Elderly Nassau Veteran Suing Police For Brutality

A 72-year-old man from Baldwin, who is a veteran of the Air Force, filed a lawsuit against two Nassau County police officers alleging that he was wrongfully arrested after the officers attacked him, and then lied to cover it up. Robert Besedin was exonerated on Jan. 29 of charges that he assaulted two police officers last February.

Now, NBC is reporting that he has filed a lawsuit against officers Stephen Beckwith and John Mantovani alleging that the officers attacked him during the arrest in front of his home. He also alleges that the two officers lied under oath to cover up their attack and try to paint Besedin as a criminal.

Besedin's lawyer, Frederick Brewington, told NBC in a statement that the officers “rushed [Besedin], grabbed him by his neck, hurled him down four steps and body slammed him to the ground.”

The incident was caught on a surveillance camera that Besedin had on his front porch. Brewington told ABC7that investigators never bothered to check the surveillance footage, which he says exonerated his client and showed the officers were the aggressors.

Prior to his arrest, ABC reported, Besedin had called 911 at least 18 times. Brewington said many of those calls were accidental dials made while Besedin's phone was in his pocket.

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