Three days before Christmas in 2021, Tyrone Phifer, a 60-year-old Black man, was falsely arrested by Nassau County police officers in Long Island, New York. Despite confirming Phifer’s identity within moments of confronting him, officers proceeded with the arrest, claiming he “fit the description” of a younger man they were seeking. Nearly two years later, Phifer, now 63, has filed a lawsuit accusing the police department of racial profiling, false arrest, and fabricating evidence in the case.
Phifer, who was carrying an umbrella and two bags with medical prescriptions and Christmas cookies when he was stopped, was confronted by officers who mistakenly believed he was a man named Leroy. Body camera footage from the incident reveals that within less than a minute, one of the officers realized Phifer was not the person they were searching for. However, the officers continued with the arrest, accusing him of resisting and fabricating a narrative to justify their actions.
The lawsuit, filed last month in the Eastern District of New York, names several officers involved in the arrest, including Sgt. Daniel Imondi and Officers Patrick McGrath, Quinn R. Knauer, and Richard J. Fosbeck. Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick J. Ryder is also named as a defendant. Phifer’s attorney, Frederick K. Brewington, argues that the incident is part of a broader pattern of racial profiling by the Nassau County Police Department, which has a documented history of disproportionately targeting Black residents.
According to the lawsuit, data from Nassau County reveals that Black people are subject to traffic stops at more than three times the rate of white people, and they are frisked nearly seven times more often. Despite making up only 10.6 percent of the county’s population, Black people accounted for a disproportionate number of arrests in 2021. Phifer’s case, Brewington asserts, is yet another example of systemic bias within the department.
On the morning of December 22, 2021, Phifer was exiting Baldwin Foot Care when he was stopped by police, who mistakenly believed he was involved in a prior assault. The officers accused him of beating a woman, despite Phifer’s protests that they had the wrong person. Even after one of the officers found a prescription with Phifer’s name on it, proving his identity, they continued the arrest. Phifer was forced to the ground and accused of being combative, a claim that was later proven false by body camera footage.
“I thought I was really going to be hurt, or accused of something they knew I didn’t do,” Phifer said in a press conference, reflecting on the incident. A National Guard veteran and grandfather of eight, Phifer described how the traumatic experience has left him unable to attend medical appointments or run errands without the support of family members.
Phifer’s arrest lasted the entire day. He was taken to a hospital where he was handcuffed to a gurney for hours, only to be charged with obstruction of governmental administration. It took 10 months for the charges to be dropped, leaving Phifer and his family emotionally scarred from the ordeal.
The lawsuit accuses the officers of not only falsely arresting Phifer but also fabricating a story to justify their use of force. In official reports, the officers claimed Phifer had refused to comply with commands and had swung his umbrella at them—allegations that were contradicted by the body camera footage. “What’s important for you to know is that within 44 seconds of this video, they knew he was not the person they were looking for,” said Brewington during a press conference.
The lawsuit also highlights the failure of other officers on the scene to intervene, accusing them of standing by or participating in the abuse. “That morning was the worst day of my life,” Phifer said, adding that he feared for his safety and believed he might be seriously harmed.
As the case moves forward, Phifer and his legal team hope to bring attention to what they describe as a longstanding issue of racial profiling by Nassau County police. For Phifer, the lawsuit is not only about seeking justice for himself but also about holding law enforcement accountable for practices that disproportionately target Black individuals.
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