Queens DA Dismisses Charges Against Teenager
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The Queens district attorney’s office dropped charges against a black teenager yesterday who says he was racially profiled by four New York City police officers and beaten without provocation.
Xavier Simpson, 17, of Long Island, was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct in June. Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement that there was insufficient evidence to support the charges.
“We can no longer have racial profiling in the city of New York. We are pleased the DA did the right thing here, but they need to complete the investigation,” Mr. Simpson’s lawyer, Norman Siegel, said.
The department’s top spokesman, Paul Browne, said Mr. Simpson was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest “after fighting efforts to handcuff him.”
The four police officers have not been identified. Mr. Siegel said three of the officers are white; he did not know the race of the fourth officer.