The Civilian Complaint Review Board has concluded that an NYPD sergeant used excessive force when he shoved a handcuffed 14-year-old boy through the plate-glass window of a hookah bar in the Bronx, the Daily News has learned.
Sgt. Eliezer Pabon now faces formal disciplinary charges and a departmental hearing in the May 17, 2014, incident that nearly killed young Javier Payne.
The CCRB’s administrative prosecution unit, which handles the most serious cases substantiated by the board, is overseeing the Pabon matter, a spokeswoman said Monday.
Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson declined to file criminal charges against the sergeant or present the case to a grand jury because a glazier told prosecutors that the window was not shatter-resistant and may have been previously compromised by cracks.
“We are pleased that the CCRB, unlike the Bronx district attorney’s office, found credible evidence to support misconduct by Sgt. Pabon,” said lawyer Scott Rynecki of the law firm Rubenstein & Rynecki, which has filed a lawsuit on the teen’s behalf.
Rynecki said he will ask prosecutors to reopen their investigation in light of the CCRB findings.
Payne was arrested along with a 13-year-old friend for allegedly punching a man in the face. Payne apparently got mouthy with cops, and Pabon slammed him into the window of the Hookah Spot on Arthur Ave. in Belmont.
The window exploded in a shower of glass, penetrating the teen’s heart and lungs. He underwent four hours of surgery to remove the shards.
Cherita Payne, the teen’s mother, said she is hopeful that Pabon will be held accountable for his actions. “I’m glad they are putting some kind of charge on him,” she said.
Javier Payne was an eighth-grader who weighed only 89 pounds at the time of the incident. He recently turned 16. The criminal charges against him were later dismissed.
Pabon’s lawyer Andrew Quinn said the CCRB determination is “merely a recommendation,” and predicted his client “will be exonerated of any misconduct.”
