NYPD Detective Punished After Teen Street Vendor Escapes

NEW YORK, NY— The NYPD disciplined a veteran detective after an internal investigation found he failed to assist fellow officers during the attempted arrest of an unlicensed fruit vendor and her 14-year-old daughter in Lower Manhattan.

The June 2, 2024, encounter near the Staten Island Ferry Terminal drew widespread attention after bystander video showed Parks Department officers struggling with the teenager as they attempted to seize the family's fruit cart.

Officer Serge Jean was assisting Parks Department officers during a joint enforcement operation when officers moved to arrest the vendor and her daughter, identified in department records only as A.M.

According to an NYPD trial decision, A.M. struck a Parks officer during the struggle and later broke free, escaping with one of an NYPD officer's handcuffs still attached to her wrist.

The tribunal found that Jean twice called for backup and briefly grabbed a bystander's hand to stop him from pulling A.M. away.

But the decision concluded that Jean did not help officers handcuff A.M. or her mother, did not push back a crowd that gathered around the confrontation and did not pursue the teenager after she fled.

Jean testified that he had managed the crowd from a safe distance.

The tribunal rejected that account, finding that footage from his body-worn camera contradicted his testimony.

The decision notes that Jean told the tribunal he arrived to find "a little girl, A.M., who was standing there crying, afraid."

After A.M. escaped, Jean told Parks officers, "Look, you can't always get [A.M.] back, but they're going to be here again, so don't worry about it," according to the tribunal's description of body-camera footage.

Anne Stone, the assistant deputy commissioner who oversaw the hearing, sharply criticized Jean's conduct.

She described his testimony as "self-serving" and found that his "lackadaisical attitude" and refusal to physically assist his fellow officers contributed to the circumstances that allowed A.M. to escape.

Stone recommended that Jean forfeit 20 vacation days.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch approved the recommendation, leaving the disciplinary finding intact.

Department records show Jean joined the NYPD in 2011, received an "exceptional" rating in his most recent performance evaluation and had no prior disciplinary history.

He has since been promoted to detective.

The discipline drew criticism from immigrant and street-vendor advocates, who argued Jean showed restraint during a volatile encounter involving a child.

Monica Sibri, a founder of the migrant-vendor outreach group Algún Día, said her organization has worked with the NYPD and city agencies to connect vendors with services rather than rely on arrests.

"This is punishing an officer who has chosen a humanitarian approach to helping our communities," Sibri told the Gothamist.

Mohamed Attia, codirector of the Street Vendor Project, told the Gothamist discipline should have focused on the Parks Department officer involved in the confrontation.

The Parks Department said the officer was temporarily assigned to administrative duty after the incident and later returned to field work in the Bronx without discipline.