Video Emerges in Police 'Beating' of Westbury Man

A 20-year-old Westbury man claims that Nassau County police beat him when he attempted to record a cellphone video during a traffic stop last month, his attorneys said.

When undercover officers pulled Kyle Howell over in Westbury because of a cracked windshield on April 25, he cooperated with police, Howell said.

That’s when the routine incident turned ugly.

“They came out of the car, I gave them my information, they opened up the door and my paycheck started to fly out the door,” he said, according to CBS New York. “I went to go reach and the next thing you know, I got a knee to the face. And then the next thing I remember, I was in the hospital.”

Video from a nearby store security camera captured the incident, according to Howell’s family.

But police say Howell triggered the violence by kicking them when they tried to thwart his attempt to eat marijuana he had in his possession, CBS reported. Howell said those allegations are false.

Now Howell is facing charges that include possession of cocaine, marijuana possession, resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer, driving with a broken windshield, speeding and tampering with evidence.

Meanwhile on Monday, Amy Marion, an attorney representing Howell, filed a notice of claim against the county.  

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice is now investigating the charges, according to a spokesman from her office. Internal affairs is investigating the officers' actions, according to CBS.

And investigators are looking at another video recorded by Howell when police stopped him back in January, he told the Long Island Press.

Howell has been stopped by police more than 12 times in the last 18 months, his family said. Although most of those stops resulted in minor traffic violations, Howell pleaded guilty two years ago to petty larceny and marijuana possession, he said.

Howell pleaded not guilty to the latest round of charges.