Witnesses are accusing police officers from the 109th Precinct of “pummeling” a Flushing man after he was involved in a collision with a police car, and City Councilmember John Liu is calling for a full investigation.
On Thursday, April 2 at about 11:25 p.m., Police Officer Freeland D’Maine was at the wheel of a police car traveling north on Linden Street, when it was struck by a commercial van traveling east on 35th Avenue, driven by Kuen Chau Wong, 46.
The force of the crash thrust the police car into a collision with a third vehicle. Wong was not charged with any offense or issued a summons for the crash.
But, Liu presented “two credible witnesses” a press conference in his Flushing office on Tuesday, April 7, who leveled “serious charges” against police who responded to the scene.
According to the unrelated women, both named Choi and both of whom declined to give their full names, “many, many officers – as many as 20” responded to the scene, where a crowd of onlookers had gathered.
They recounted that police “yelled at everyone to go inside,” after which Wong was “arrested, put in handcuffs and surrounded by police” after the crowd was dispersed.
“Four or five police officers surrounded Wong. They took turns hitting Wong,” the second witness said, “We were yelling, ‘Why are you hitting him, it was just a traffic accident.’”
Shortly afterward, the handcuffs were removed, the witnesses said. Wong was transported to Flushing Hospital, according to records.
Liu sat in stony silence while the witnesses told their stories through an interpreter, before commenting that “in my eight years in the City Council, I have seen too many of these incidents.”
Liu revealed that Wong had to return to Flushing Hospital two days after the incident, complaining of “cramps and diarrhea,” which Liu attributed to his treatment by police. “His physical injuries will heal, but the emotional scarring will last a long time,” he said.
“The family has gone to Internal Affairs Bureau [the investigative arm of the NYPD] and the Civilian Complaint Review Board [CCRB]. We have gone directly to the District Attorney, to demand a full investigation,” Liu said.
“Mr. Wong and his family are afraid,” Liu said, praising “these two brave women for coming forward.” He called upon other witnesses to come forward, “especially the man who took pictures.”
Liu told The Queens Courier, “There was a person beaten, and it’s unclear why he was beaten, and that’s why we are demanding a full investigation.”
Officially, the NYPD will only say that events “are under investigation; we can’t comment because it’s at CCRB.”
The accident report indicates that cops were responding to a 9-1-1 emergency call “10-10 [the radio code for a possible crime] man with firearm.” The report indicates that the police car was using “lights and sirens.”
A police source told The Queens Courier that although Wong was handcuffed, he was never arrested. “He was held until a field sobriety test could be administered. He passed it, so he was released.”
“We’re allowed to do that,” the source said.
Another police source expressed doubts about accusations of abuse. “I wouldn’t be surprised if [Wong] had problems afterwards. It was a pretty serious accident ¬– the cop had to be cut out of the car.”
That source expressed incredulity at suggestions that officers had been drinking. “What? They said that? The story is changing,” he muttered.
