- Attorney Jaime Santana has accused NYPD Detective Kendo Kinsey of 'initially engaging' and 'physically coming into contact' with 19-year-old Tamani Crum
- Shocking video shows the officer smacking Crum to the ground after she approached her boyfriend as he was placed under arrest in Harlem Tuesday
- The teen's lawyer on Thursday denied the NYPD's claims that Crum was trying to interfere with 22-year-old suspect Elvin James's arrest
- 'What you do not see [in the video] is her doing anything to prevent an arrest from occurring. The gentleman was already in cuffs,' he told DailyMail.com
- Crum, who lives in Manhattan and has no criminal record, was charged with obstruction and was released from custody after her arraignment Wednesday
- 'She's a 19-year-old teenage girl. Physically, she was probably one third the size of the officer,' the lawyer said
The lawyer of the 19-year-old woman who was punched by an NYPD officer in a viral video has shot down police claims that she was trying to interfere with her boyfriend's arrest and said the cop was the true aggressor.
Attorney Jaime Santana said police had already placed 22-year-old suspect Elvin James in handcuffs when the cop hit his client Tamani Crum in Harlem on Tuesday afternoon.
Footage shows NYPD Detective Kendo Kinsey manhandling the teenager and smacking her to the ground in a jaw-dropping exchange after Crum approached James as he was being arrested.
'Police appeared to already have placed the individual (James) in cuffs,' Santana told DailyMail.com.
'You see my client appear on video. What you do not see is her doing anything to prevent an arrest from occurring. It appeared the gentleman was already in cuffs.'
Pictures of the chaotic scene show James with a shiny band around his right wrist, but it is unclear if it is jewelry or cuffs.
'The officer engaged initially and physically came into contact with my client. It was at that point that my client at most tried to stop the officer from being physical toward her. The officer then responded with a very, very violent blow to her face.'
Crum was arraigned Wednesday night and charged with obstruction. She was released from custody following her court appearance.
Santana said the teen, who lives in Manhattan and has no criminal record, is 'very, very upset over the situation.'
'She's a 19-year-old teenage girl. Physically, she was probably one third the size of the officer,' the lawyer said.
'As you could imagine, the force she sustained in terms of blow, that was crushing for her with respect to physical impact and her emotional well-being.
'She has injuries throughout body. She went to the hospital after she was assaulted. I was able to see some bruising to her face, back and neck area. She has pain throughout her head. She was struck very, very hard, very violently, completely unnecessarily.'
Santana said he has viewed the viral video as well as police body cam footage of the incident and is now seeking Crum's medical records after she was treated at the hospital for her injuries.
He added: 'She has no criminal record. She comes from a good family. She's had no incidents in the past as far as I'm aware with the criminal justice system. She has full support of her family, who were all present at her arraignment.'
Crum, who was seen wearing a mask, white top, and gray cardigan during her arraignment at Manhattan Criminal court, is scheduled to return on October 11.
Her boyfriend remains behind bars on a $300,000 cash bond.
The shocking interaction was filmed by a bystander and went viral on social media as another apparent example of police brutality.
The incident sparked an immediate uproar from activists and her family, who blasted the officer for putting his hand on a woman.
Civil rights activist Al Sharpton threatened to file a civil suit against the cops for the incident in Harlem on Tuesday.
But the Detectives' Endowment Association slapped down the move and said it was looking into filing a civil suit against the suspect.
The NYPD also quickly defended the officer, noting the suspect was armed with a gun and her attempts to stop the arrest could have been deadly.
Detectives' Endowment Association President Paul DiGiacomo said: 'Criminals in NY have grown accustomed to there being no consequences for their dangerous, illegal actions — but when you assault a New York City Detective in order to interfere with an arrest of a man armed with a gun there are repercussions.
'As the DEA explores a possible civil suit on behalf of our dedicated member against the woman who attacked him, we urge politicians to open their eyes and see the public safety disaster they've created.'
He also laid into Sharpton, saying: 'As for Al Sharpton's insane comments, he should be worried about the thousands of actual crime victims in this city and not the limelight and lining of his pockets.'
DiGiacomo added to DailyMail.com: 'They (Sharpton) said they're going to be filing a civil suit. We're going to be looking to file a civil suit as well, against the woman.'
He defended the detective's actions as necessary against a woman who was clearly interfering in an arrest: 'This individual (James) was in possession of a loaded, illegal firearm, and her interference in that arrest could have cost the police officers as well as other innocent people their lives because they had to divert their attention away from the armed suspect to her.'
The footage showed a chaotic scene as a swarm of officers struggled with a group of people outside of an apartment building on West 136 Street in Harlem.
Bystanders could be heard yelling loudly as cops detained James and a scuffle broke out between them.
A thin woman wearing a skirt, later identified as Crum, then ran into the chaos and began speaking to James.
It was was unclear if she hit her head on the pavement but she could be seen dazed and clutching her face with both her hands as people in the crowd shouted.
Activists and Crum's family decried the shocking video and called into question Kinsey's actions.
Rev. Stephen Marshall said: 'The question for the NYPD is when did it became a tactic for crowd control to knock somebody unconscious.'
One yelled: 'Why'd you do that! She's just a little girl!' You're wilding, bro!' as others swarmed around the officers.
Kinsey and another cop then calmly helped the woman to her feet, cuffed her and led her away wordless and with a blank expression on her face.
Her grandmother Julia added: 'He cold knocked her out. He's not better than the people who are knocking people out in the street...
'He should never have put his hands on her or any female. He's wrong. He's wrong. He's wrong.'
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called for calm from the public until an investigation has been completed.
He said: 'It's a lot of madness going on. This is not just something that is a theatrical performance.
'This is real danger. This person was wanted for murder. This person had a loaded gun.'
James was arrested on the spot after being wanted in connection with an August 12 killing.
The NYPD told DailyMail.com he was found with a loaded firearm and a large amount of controlled substances.
Police said Crum and Faith Harrell, 27 were also arrested for charges including assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.
Meanwhile a third woman, 26, who has not been identified, was given a court summons for spitting on an officer.
An NYPD source told the Daily News: 'That guy had a loaded firearm on him. If she was successful in stopping the arrest, then he could have pulled that gun and hurt someone.'
Another added: 'A lot of people see cops struggling and wrestling with people. But they have to understand that punching someone is a justifiable action too.'
Kinsey began service with the NYPD as a police officer in 2005. He became a detective specialist in 2021 and serves in the 32nd Precinct.
Kinsey told the Daily Beast he was 'very much aware' of the footage but declined to comment further.