Elderly woman says she was ‘traumatized’ by rough cops

New York Post – by Lia Eustachewich

An elderly Bedford-Stuyvesant woman with heart problems says she was left “traumatized” after being roughed up by NYPD cops who ransacked her apartment last year without a warrant, according to a new lawsuit.

It was early morning on May 14 when Lydia Pruitt, 65, was accosted by four or five officers with guns drawn at the door of her first-floor apartment on Lexington Avenue, the Brooklyn federal court complaint says.  

The cops displayed a photo of a woman they were looking for but Pruitt didn’t recognize her.

After showing the officers her own identification, the officers “dragged” Pruitt out of her apartment and into the hallway, throwing the retired, 4’11 woman against a wall and “roughly” handcuffing her, court papers say.

Pruitt injured her knee in the process.

Cops then ravaged her apartment and emptied bottles of her prescription heart medication – then slapped her with a desk-appearance ticket for seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

The DA’s office declined to prosecute but she says she has no clue why she was arrested in the first place.

“I was traumatized,” Pruitt said Wednesday. “Still to this day, I don’t understand. I know I’m afraid of the police.”

Her attorney Andrew Hoffman noted the “strained” relationship between cops and the community and hopes the suit will bring accountability.

“Lawsuits are part of healing the wound that has developed between the community and police,” he said.

A city Law Department spokeswoman said the suit will be reviewed once it’s served.

http://nypost.com/2016/08/10/elderly-woman-says-she-was-traumatized-by-rough-cops/