In 2015, NYPD Lieutenant Paul Gaglio testified under oath that an 11-year-old girl, accused of stealing a cellphone from a cab driver, attempted to resist arrest through “intimidation, physical force, or interference.”
And that, he said, caused him and the girl to slip on a patch of ice.
But surveillance footage shows Gaglio throwing the young girl, who is Latina, to the ground.
As Gaglio throws the girl, his arm can be seen around her neck, choking her.
Now, after reviewing the surveillance footage, an independent police oversight agency determined Gaglio used a chokehold – a move banned by NYPD’s department rules except in “extreme circumstances,” because choking someone can cause severe injuries or kill them.
In 2016, NYPD brass decided not to punish Gaglio even though lying about a “material matter” and using chokeholds violates NYPD’s department rules.
This July, NYPD settled a lawsuit with the girl for $87,500, according to Buzz Feed.
Gaglio was never fired or punished.
“She resisted. She ran. A lieutenant chased her. She tried to get away. They fell to the floor. He locked her up. End of story,” Lou Turco, president of the NYPD’s lieutenants union, said in an interview.
On Facebook, Gaglio shares memes denigrating Islam and gay people, and making demeaning posts about black people even though NYPD’s policy specifically prohibits officers from making “discourteous or disrespectful remarks regarding another person’s ethnicity, race, religion or sexual orientation.”
Lieutenant Gaglio has since deleted the posts after several media inquires about them.
NYPD spokesman Phil Walzak said the department concluded the video clearly shows Gaglio approached the girl and attempted to talk to her and that Gaglio never put his hands around the girl’s neck.
Walzak also said the girl never told investigators that she was choked said anything about her breathing being restricted, so the department did not classify the maneuver as a chokehold.
According to the department’s definition, a chokehold is defined as ” any pressure to the throat or windpipe, which may prevent or hinder breathing or reduce intake of air. “
The NYPD has taken criticism from the investigating agency for “mutating” its rules ” to adapt to the NYPD disciplinary process, rather than the disciplinary process following the NYPD rule.”
NYPD found Gaglio’s use of force appropriate.
Watch the surveillance video footage above.
