Teacher sues police over force used at school

A DeWitt Clinton High School teacher has sued the NYPD, claiming an officer used excessive force on him and students during a brawl that broke out last spring. 

On March 6, global studies teacher Jack Israel, 56, a Westchester resident, filed a complaint against Officers Amaurys Tavarez and Osbel Medina in Manhattan Federal Court. 

After a fight that started outside his classroom last March escalated into what students described as a brawl between black and Dominican students at the school, Mr. Israel claimed one of the officers, Officer Medina, shoved a female student who was watching the fight. 

When Mr. Israel confronted the officer in defense of the student, he alleges Officer Medina “violently grabbed [his] arm, spun him around and slammed him into a wall inside his classroom.” After that, Mr. Israel was handcuffed and arrested on charges of assault and resisting arrest. 

“[Mr. Israel] was extremely frightened and in shock that the officer attacked him so aggressively,” the complaint states.

Officers at the time claimed Mr. Israel hit Mr. Medina’s arm as the officer attempted to break up the fight. 

Mr. Israel also claimed that although he asked for medical assistance while he was held in a cell at the 52nd Precinct, he never received any. He sustained fractured ribs and a tear to his shoulder as a result of the incident, he said. 

After the incident, students defended Mr. Israel, claiming he had grabbed the officer’s arm after he shoved the female student. 

Mr. Israel returned to the school as a teacher eight months later, after being cleared of the charges against him. 

But when he returned, The Daily News reported, the NYPD had stationed Officer Medina as a safety officer at the school. He was not disciplined for the incident at the school last March 26. 

“Mr. Israel’s sole focus is teaching his students and protecting them from injustice despite this bizarre and disturbing decision to place Officer Medina back in the school where both Mr. Israel and the students were victimized,” his lawyer Nicole Bellina told The News.

Neither Mr. Israel nor Ms. Bellina were immediately available for an interview.

Outside of Clinton on April 3, one of Mr. Israel’s current students, a sophomore who declined to give his name, said he felt police officers should not have been called in to break up the fight.

“The security guards inside the building should have tried to break it up on their own,” he said. 

He defended his teacher’s actions last year. 

“I think it’s bad that he was put in that situation,” the student said.