Bill Bratton to apologize to James Blake for rough arrest

The city’s top cop said Thursday he and Mayor de Blasio both intend to apologize to retired tennis star James Blake after he was slammed to a Manhattan sidewalk by a cop who mistook him for
an identity theft suspect.

“I would be very interested in talking to him to extend my apologies,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said at a news conference. “Mr. Blake had no role or involvement in the criminal investigation that we were conducting and was totally innocent.”

Bratton said he was also concerned that the officer, whom he did not identify, failed to report his error to police brass.


EXCLUSIVE: EX-TENNIS STAR JAMES BLAKE TACKLED BY WHITE COPS

It took Blake coming forward to The Daily News with accusations of being manhandled Wednesday by a plainclothes cop outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel to put the incident on the NYPD’s radar.

“After the release there's proper protocols that are supposed to be followed and that didn't happen," Bratton said.

Bratton said they have not yet spoken with the officer and they are looking into the alleged “inappropriateness of the use of force in the arrest.”

“I have concerns about the takedown,” he said.

Blake, who was once ranked No. 4 in the world, is black. The officer who tackled Blake on Wednesday is white.

LUPICA: JAMES BLAKE DESERVES AN APOLOGY FROM NYPD, MAYOR
JEFFERSON SIEGEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton defended the officers who tackled James Blake.
SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS
James Blake of U.S. reacts during his match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York September 4, 2010.

ANDREW SAVULICH/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
The NYPD has put an officer on modified duty after former tennis star James Blake was handcuffed in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday in an apparent mix-up.

ANDREW SAVULICH/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tennis star James Blake was tackled outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel entrance near Grand Central at E 42 St. Wednesday.
Bratton insisted that didn’t figure into the arrest.

"Sorry, race has nothing at all to do with this,” he said earlier on CNN. “If you look at the photograph of the suspect it looks like the twin brother of Mr. Blake. So let's put that nonsense to rest right now, race has nothing to do with this.”

Bratton said Blake was fingered by “a witness who identified Mr. Blake as an individual that he had sold a phone to and had been given a false credit card."

That witness pointed Blake out to the officers, who tackled the retired athlete without asking questions, Bratton said.

Blake, who was on his way to a corporate appearance for Time Warner Cable at the U.S. Open, told The News on Wednesday that he suspects his race figured in what happened.

“In my mind there’s probably a race factor involved, but no matter what there’s no reason for anybody to do that to anybody,” he said.

Blake, who suffered a cut to his left elbow and bruises to his left leg, said none of the cops involved in the arrest identified themselves including the shorts- and T-shirt-clad cop who charged straight at him and tackled him on E. 42nd St.

The former tennis star said he was turned loose only after a retired cop who happened to be at the scene recognized him and told the officers, “that is James Blake, the tennis player.”

Blake is expected to say more about his ordeal later Thursday. In a brief interview with NBC, he vowed to keep the pressure on the NYPD to get this matter settled.

ANDREW SAVULICH/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tennis star James Blake speaks to reporters outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel entrance near Grand Central at E 42 St. Wednesday.
"It shouldn't have happened,” he said. “It's something we'll deal with with the police and we'll find out what they have to say internally. Hopefully there's video of it and people can see what happened."


Bratton said the officer who bounced Blake off the pavement was placed on modified duty — and had his gun and badge yanked — after investigators viewed the surveillance video from the hotel.

Charlie Sanders, 55, who sells newspapers at Park Ave. and 42nd St., said he saw the takedown.

“I didn't know who he was,” he said of Blake. “I did see that they had him in cuffs. I heard him say, ‘I got my US Open Badge!"

Sanders said the officers were rough with Blake even after dragging him to his feet.

“They had his face against the window,” he said. “He was shaken up. He was scared to death."

A high-ranking NYPD source who specializes in training cops said what troubles him most is that the officer who arrested and cuffed Blake never apologized.