Ex-tennis star James Blake testifies about his mistaken arrest in New York
NEW YORK — Former pro tennis star James Blake testified on Tuesday that a plainclothes police officer never identified himself before throwing him to the ground and handcuffing him outside in 2015 outside his Manhattan hotel.
“He never said ‘NYPD.’ He never said ‘officer,’” Blake said at a disciplinary trial for Officer James Frascatore. “He never said ‘freeze,’ like you’d see in the movies.”
Blake testified that he remained handcuffed for about 10 minutes before police realized they had mistaken Blake for a suspect wanted in a fraud investigation. At one point, Blake said, Frascatore told him, “You know you’re safe, right?”
Blake said responded: “I don’t know I’m safe. I don’t know why I’m here.”