Jurors in alleged Nassau police misconduct trial watch video of encounter as testimony gets underway

Jurors in an alleged police misconduct case filed by a Baldwin man saying he was assaulted by two Nassau Police officers outside his home in 2017 saw video footage Wednesday of an officer grabbing the man by the neck and throwing him to the ground.

The video played to a federal jury sitting in Brooklyn sharply contradicts statements Nassau County police officer Stephen Beckwith wrote in a felony complaint charging Robert Besedin Sr., with second-degree assault.

Beckwith was the first witness called in the civil trial by attorney Fred Brewington of Hempstead, who represents Besedin in the lawsuit that claims Nassau police violated his civil rights by assaulting him and falsely arresting him outside his home on Feb. 7, 2017.

Beckwith wrote in the felony complaint that Besedin, now 79 years old, had violently flailed his arms, kicked, and screamed before he pushed officer Dominick Mantovani down four steps leading to the porch of his Harrison Avenue home. The felony complaint stated Mantovani was treated at a hospital for scrapes, cuts and a sprained ankle.

The video, however, showed Mantovani grab Besedin by the neck and throw him backward down the stairs. The felony complaint includes language that says making a false statement is punishable as a misdemeanor.

The lawsuit, filed in 2018, names Nassau County, Nassau County Police, Beckwith and Mantovani as defendants. Representatives of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and the police department did not immediately return requests for comment.

Besedin, Brewington told the jury during his opening statement on Wednesday, had called police several times that day because he was upset about a burglary at his auto repair business. Beckwith and Mantovani had responded to the house several times that day before they arrested Besdein, charging him with second-degree assault, harassment and resisting arrest.

"They did not know that Mr. Besedin had on his front porch a video camera and they made accusations against Mr. Besedin that were not true," Brewington told jurors.

Then-Deputy County Attorney Ralph Reissman told a judge in 2019 that the video showed the officers assaulting Besedin for no apparent reason.

"It is a very disturbing video," Reisman said during a hearing. "It looks like a physically unprovoked attack."

During his opening statement on Wednesday, defense attorney Andrew Blancato told the jury that Besedin was suffering from a mental health crisis on the day he was arrested that was rooted in a traumatic brain injury the mechanic suffered during a 2003 auto accident. Besedin, Brancato said, was drinking heavily the day he was arrested.

"He was mad, he was angry and he was drunk," Brancato said.

Trial testimony continues Wednesday afternoon.