A Harlem man arrested for drugged driving had actually suffered a stroke — but the NYPD kept him shackled to a hospital bed for days after his diagnosis, according to a lawsuit.
“They very much knew I had a stroke, and very much didn’t care,” Frank Brandon, 54, said of the police officers who arrested him last year.
The episode began Nov. 19, when the father of five dropped off his son and grandson in Upper Manhattan and his face began slumping.
“I said, ‘Son, don’t forget your phone.’ When he turned back to get his phone, he said, ‘Dad, are you all right?’” Brandon recalled.
His face had begun to droop, a classic sign of a stroke — but Brandon’s son didn’t mention it, and Brandon didn’t feel different.
“I had no clue I was having a stroke,” said Brandon, who is suing in Manhattan Federal Court the city and the officers who arrested him.
He headed home further uptown, and ended up in car accident, hitting his head during the impact. The other driver accused Brandon, who says he doesn’t drink or do drugs, of being inebriated.
Responding cops asked if he’d take a sobriety test.
“I’m scared of police, but I don’t want to be nobody’s statistic,” he said. “I don’t want to be on anybody’s news. I’m going to be compliant, whatever you want from me is what I’ll give you.”
Brandon was taken into custody and brought to the 28th Precinct, where he was forced to take off his shoes and underwent multiple tests, including a Breathalyzer, which showed zero alcohol in his system, according to court papers. He gave urine and offered to take a lie detector test, he said.
But Brandon had enough when one officer shined a light in his eyes and claimed there was white powder on his face.
“They said, ‘What do you think we are, stupid? We’ve been doing this for 30 years.’ I said I’ve been me for 54 and you’ve got no white powder stuff on my face.”
As the hours dragged on, Brandon became cold and dizzy, and an ambulance was called. Doctors at Harlem Hospital eventually confirmed there were no alcohol or drugs in Brandon’s system — and that his symptoms were the result of a stroke.
“If you were making a mistake, you could have undone your mistake right there, but no, they kept me locked up. They were very hostile to my family,” Brandon said.
Once the hospital delivered its diagnosis, the situation should have been “clear cut,” said Brandon’s lawyer, Alex Padilla. “They had no probable cause at that point.”
Brandon was shackled to the bed with a cop watching his every move for four days, even though doctors said stroke victims should be up and walking around.
“I was very angry, and very upset and very scared. I’m thinking, ‘They know I had a stroke, why am I still here?’”
Brandon, who is seeking unspecified damages, was eventually given a desk appearance ticket. The charges were later dropped.
The NYPD said it would review the lawsuit “if and when we are served” with the court papers.
