NYPD Cop Takes Cash From Man: Shocking Scene As Cop Allegedly Snatches $1K From Construction Worker [Video]

An NYPD cop takes cash from a man then sprays him with pepper spray, and it’s all caught on video. The incident went down on September 16, 2014, which means it took nearly a solid month for the shocking theft to make headlines. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office is investigating the alleged crime after an unnamed witness captured the entire encounter on a cellphone. The video showing the NYPD cop as he takes cash from the man has been given to NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau and prosecutors.

According to information obtained by The Daily News, a police officer reportedly stopped Lamard Joye around 12:20 a.m., shoved him against the fence of a basketball court at the Surfside Gardens housing project in Coney Island and frisked him. Then the cop took more than $1,000 cash from the man’s pocket. When the alleged victim and his sister, Lateefah Joye, complained and attempted to get the officer’s badge number, the cop used pepper spray on the pair of them.

Attorney Robert Marinelli represents the Joyes. He spoke about the incident on Wednesday, speculating about why the NYPD cop may have thought he could get away with taking cash from the man.

“One of the most disturbing things about the video is the other cops standing around watching and doing nothing to stop the wrongdoing…. I believe that this officer made an assumption that any money Mr. Joye possessed was obtained illegally and therefore he would not report the theft. This assumption was wrong. Mr. Joye is a hardworking taxpayer deserving respect.”

New York explained that Lamard Joye had the large sum of money in his pocket because he planned to take his wife out to celebrate. It was his 35th birthday. In the original cellphone video, the man can be heard protesting after the cop took the cash.

“Give me my money, Man! Give me my money,” Joye told the officer just before he was pepper-sprayed directly in the face.

“That’s robbery,” a bystander chimed in. “How you gonna take his money?”

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, an off-duty police officer shot and killed a young man, who has been unofficially identified as 18-year-old Vonderrick Myers, in an unrelated incident. The officer claimed that the youth fired a weapon at him first, and a gun was recovered at the scene. However, some witnesses said that the teen was only carrying a sandwich prior to the exchange of gunfire.

[Image via ALLTVCHANNEL2/YouTube screenshot]