Civilian review board: NYPD had no right to arrest Thabo Sefolosha

The New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board ruled Monday that the New York Police Department officers who arrested Atlanta Hawks swingman Thabo Sefolosha outside of a Manhattan nightclub in April had no cause to do so. The board, however, stopped short of saying that officers used excessive force in taking Sefolosha down to the ground in an ensuing physical altercation that left him with a broken right leg that ended his 2014-15 season.

Sefolosha and then-teammate Pero Antic were arrested outside Manhattan nightclub 1Oak, where fellow NBA player Chris Copeland — formerly of the New York Knicks, then of the Indiana Pacers — was stabbed in the abdomen. A police report claimed that NYPD officers asked Sefolosha and Antic "six times [...] to clear the area [in front of the nightclub] to establish a crime scene before they were arrested"; that the players moved a couple of feet away, but did not "clear the area"; and that, after refusing to clear the area, "Sefolosha then charged officers in an 'aggressive manner.'"

A video later released by TMZ seemed to show multiple NYPD officers encircling Sefolosha, with one officer seeming to grab Sefolosha by the back of the neck before the group brings him down to the street, with one officer appearing to swing his baton at Sefolosha's lower body. A bone in Sefolosha's right ankle was broken in the altercation; he'd later undergo surgery to repair it, knocking him out of the Hawks' playoff run.

After being charged with three misdemeanors, both Antic and Sefolosha pleaded their innocence. Sefolosha claimed the "significant injury" he suffered was "caused by the police." Antic said that "what happened that night wasn't our fault."

Prosecutors dropped the charges against Antic, but offered Sefolosha only a "conditional dismissal." He rejected the offer, preferring to take the case to court, in part to shine a light on what he believed to be the wider-ranging problem of abuse of power: "It was an act of police brutality, and I believe it could happen to anyone." He was found not guilty on all counts last month.

The CCRB — an independent government agency charged with investigating complaints against New York City police officers, evaluating police behavior and, when necessary, recommending subsequent action to the city's police commissioner — found that officer JohnPaul Giacona "had been discourteous and had abused his authority when he used profanity and threatened to fight Mr. Sefolosha, after asking him several times to move farther away from the nightclub," according to James C. McKinley Jr. of the New York Times:

The panel also ruled that Officer Giacona and a second officer, Richard Caster, had abused their authority when they arrested Mr. Sefolosha a few minutes later, a finding that means the officers lacked a valid reason to take him into custody.

But the panel cleared the officers of accusations that they had been unduly brutal while subduing Mr. Sefolosha, according to a disposition letter summarizing the board’s findings.

Police Commissioner William J. Bratton could dock Officer Giacona up to 15 days of vacation, if he follows the board’s recommendation. The board also recommended Officer Caster be sent for additional training in proper police procedure.

"While we did not initiate the complaint against the police officers, we are pleased that CCRB found his arrest to be completely unlawful," Sefolosha's attorney, Alex Spiro, said after the board's announcement, according to ESPN.com's Kevin Arnovitz.

"Meanwhile, the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau is continuing its investigation against the officers, a process that the source said will be accelerated by the CCRB ruling," Arnovitz writes. "The IAB's findings are regarded to be more substantive than those of the CCRB."

After being exonerated in October, Sefolosha announced plans to file a civil suit against the city of New York, the NYPD and the officers involved in the incident, saying he believes it's "the right approach to ... fight back in a legal way and in a way that can empower, hopefully, more people." He will reportedly seek $50 million in damages.

Now recovered from his surgery, Sefolosha, 32, has made 12 appearances in 15 games for the Hawks this season, averaging 6.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.3 assists in 22.2 minutes per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range.