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Second man claims he was wrongly arrested during NYPD's Brooklyn drug sweep

By
Mahsa Saeidi
Mahsa Saeidi
Mahsa Saeidi, a five-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and licensed attorney, joined CBS News New York as an investigative reporter in March of 2024.
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Mahsa Saeidi

/ CBS New York

A second man says he was wrongfully arrested during the NYPD's drug operation this week in Brooklyn. Police say they launched the sweep in response to community complaints about increased drug sales. 

On Tuesday, Timothy Brown, who said he was buying wine on his way home from work in the Boerum Hill section, was the victim of a flurry of punches from detectives inside a liquor store.

On Thursday, a second man came forward to say he believes he was wrongly targeted during the same drug sweep.

"I thought I was going to get hurt, too"  

Ronald Maxwell said he was picked up at a store near Baltic and Hoyt streets, adding that one of the same detectives who arrested Brown took him in, too.

"I don't get in trouble, so it was really embarrassing," Maxwell told CBS News New York's Mahsa Saeidi. "I was ordering the bacon, egg, and cheese. The officer grabbed me and said 'you're arrested,' and just put me in handcuffs and drug and dragged me out. I thought I was going to get hurt, too, because he was being very violent."

6-saeidi-image.jpg
Ronald Maxwell. CBS News New York

The NYPD said the detectives were looking for a man with green shorts, which Brown was wearing. Maxwell, however, said he was not.

"I was wearing green Adidas, a dark green Adidas track suit," Maxwell said.

An arrest with no record?

After being taken into custody, Maxwell said things took a strange turn.

"We went in [the] 84th Precinct. I didn't get to see a judge. I didn't get fingerprinted. They just let me out the back door. No charge, no nothing," Maxwell said.

CBS News New York reached out to the NYPD about the claims. A spokesperson said there was no arrest on file.

Former NYPD Lt. Darrin Porcher said that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

"The NYPD has a policy which is referred to as 'avoided arrest,'" Porcher said, explaining if you're wrongly arrested and then released, the arrest may not be on file.

The NYPD declined to comment further.

"There is going to be a record and it's something that's going to be housed in the NYPD's community system, as well as the court system," Porcher said.

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