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Mount Vernon Police Officer Ryan Hughes, who turned himself in to investigators last month, has been arraigned an charged with second-degree reckless endangerment in Mount Vernon City Court, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino, Jr. announced on Wednesday afternoon, July 1.
Hughes’ arrest came while national protests were raging after the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police.
The arraignment comes following an incident on Aug. 24 last year in the Mount Vernon Police Department building.
It is alleged that Hughes pushed the woman into an interview room with “sufficient force that she tripped over a small garbage pail and stumbled across the room.”
The woman struck the far cinderblock wall of the interrogation room and fell to the ground. Scarpino said that because the woman was handcuffed, she was unable to break her fall.
The DA noted that before entering the interview room, the woman was "clearly intoxicated and complaining of injury." She subsequently received medical attention after being shoved.
According to Scarpino, his office received a video recording from the Mount Vernon Police Department in January this year as they investigated the claims of excessive force. He noted that the investigation was slowed down due to the COVID-19 outbreak and restrictions.
Hughes was released and is scheduled to appear back in court on Tuesday, Aug. 18.
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