Alleged Pizza Thief Beat By New York Police As He Raises Arms To Surrender [Video]

A man accused of stealing pizzas from a Brooklyn grocery store was beaten by police officers as he raised his arms to surrender to them.

Thomas Jennings, 24, is the aspiring hip hop artist that became a victim of the police assault after he was accused of stealing two slices of pizza and oregano from New York Fried Chicken, according to the New York Daily News. Jennings allegedly did not have the $3.oo to pay for his two slices of pizza and decided to borrow the dollar he needed to cover the cost.

The employees at the restaurant told a different story, stating that Jennings and an unidentified man refused to pay for the pizza and the unidentified man pulled a knife before the duo grabbed shakers of oregano and their pizza and fled the scene. Police responded to the situation and were able to track Jennings down at the Roslin Grocery store, where the beating took place.

The video appears to show Jennings originally resisting arrest as he is being detained, but raised his hands to signal he was surrendering to the officers. However, as his hands are raised, the second police officer then proceeded to beat Jennings into submission, according to the New York Post.

Jennings, who goes by the rap name ‘Sen’ Tekk’, has twenty prior arrests and two open warrants to his name. He has a currently pending lawsuit against the city for a prior arrest, as well. Jennings was arrested on charges of robbery, resisting arrest, and the criminal possession of a weapon.

Upon review of the footage, the entire interaction is now under investigation to see if excessive force was used. Jennings’ lawyer, Amy Rameau, was horrified at what she saw in the video.

“It’s horrendous what they did to him. He had his hands up. He didn’t pose a threat to anyone in that store. It was an absolute use of excessive force.”

Officer Lutchman, seen hitting Jennings in the video, has a prior federal lawsuit against him that alleged excessive use of force. That lawsuit was settled outside of court for $12,500.

Rameau feels that Jennings has become an unwilling target of the officers,, possibly because he has a prior lawsuit against the police after one officer fractured his eye socket during a scuffle.

“He’s an artist, he’s a father, he’s a son but unfortunately the police see him as an object, something to pound on,”

[Photo Via Surveillance Video/Raslin Gorcery]