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EMTs: We stopped cops from beating disturbed patient on stretcher

The FDNY EMTs filed a report against four NYPD officers who they say they had to physically intervene to stop them from punching an emotionally disturbed patient in the face

NEW YORK — Two FDNY EMTs say they had to physically intervene to stop four police officers from beating a handcuffed emotionally disturbed patient on a stretcher.

The violence broke out on July 20 when the patient spit at the Emergency Service Unit officers and swore at them, according to documents obtained by the New York Daily News.

Cops responded by punching the patient multiple times in the face, hauling him off the stretcher and onto the ground, and then tossing him back on the stretcher, according to a report filed by the EMTs.

They stopped only when the EMTs intervened, the report says.

The incident began when two FDNY EMTs were called to Brooklyn’s 67th Precinct stationhouse around 7:30 p.m. to bring the patient to a nearby hospital. He was restrained for the transport, and was combative and banging his head against the wall.

According to the report:

“Pt. came out of the cell in cuffs. Pt. became combative with PD and (was) put on our stretcher,” wrote one EMT in the Unusual Occurrence Report filed with FDNY brass.

“Pt. was struck in the face by an officer ... pt. spit in the face of an officer, whereupon the officer punched the pt. in the face multiple times.”

The police department’s Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating.

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