Raul Garcia, of the Bronx, accuses NYPD officers of brutality following incident with neighbor

A Bronx father claims he was beaten by police officers in front of his family and neighbors. Raul Garcia, 39, says the violence stems from an incident that happened moments earlier on June 3 in his

News 12 Staff

Jul 11, 2014, 1:05 AM

Updated 3,739 days ago

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A Bronx father claims he was beaten by police officers in front of his family and neighbors.
Raul Garcia, 39, says the violence stems from an incident that happened moments earlier on June 3 in his apartment at the Jackson Houses in Melrose. Garcia says a neighbor tried to burn his apartment down with a mattress.
He says the FDNY put the fire out and that he called police. His neighbor was arrested, and is now charged with arson. 
Witnesses say an officer handcuffed and bumped Garcia, so he pushed back. Garcia claims he was then knocked unconscious and dragged to an ambulance, eventually being cuffed to his hospital bed.
He and his attorney are filing a $50 million lawsuit against the city and the NYPD because of his injuries.
Sources say Garcia has 14 prior arrests for charges including burglary, narcotics possession and criminal possession of a weapon. His attorney claims the father of two is a changed man, and that since he was only charged with resisting arrest and not attempted assault, it shows he never lunged at officers in the first place.
The New York City Law Department says it is not commenting on the situation at this time because it has yet to see the lawsuit.