NYPD Chief: We’re Trying to Apologize For Mistaken Arrest

Former tennis professional James Blake said Thursday that he wants an apology after a case of mistaken identity led police to handcuff him and take him to the ground.

Police Commissioner William Bratton said he’d been trying to reach Blake by phone to apologize, but Blake hadn’t responded to messages. He also said his department wants Blake to speak to its Internal Affairs division.

Blake said he was standing outside Manhattan’s Grand Hyatt New York hotel on Wednesday when he looked up from his cellphone and saw an officer charging him. He said he was body-slammed.

He told officers to check his identification, and he was released. Blake said the plainclothes officer never identified himself.

“I’d like an apology,” Blake told ABC. “I’d like an explanation for how they conducted themselves because I think we all need to be held accountable for our actions, and police as well.”

The officer has been stripped of his gun and badge while the matter is investigated. Bratton told CNN the man that officers were seeking looked like “the twin brother of Mr. Blake.”

But Blake said their actions weren’t acceptable.

“I was standing there doing nothing — not running, not resisting, in fact, smiling,” he said.

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the September 11th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.