3 cops hurt arresting suspect

Three police officers were hospitalized in a struggle with a suspect who refused to give his identification after he was stopped for drinking beer in an Inwood parking lot, authorities said.

During the fierce tussle, one of the officers suffered a torn biceps and hyper-extended elbow, a second sustained cuts to his ear and head and a third received an eye injury, police said.

The suspect, identified as Samuel Prioleau, 45, of Farmers Boulevard, Jamaica, Queens, was finally subdued and arrested after other officers arrived on the scene.

The incident unfolded on Monday, June 21 at 8:35 p.m. when two plainclothes officers noticed the suspect drinking beer in public view in the parking lot at 385 Bayview Ave., officials said. When the Fourth Precinct officers identified themselves and asked for his identification, the suspect immediately became combative, punching them in the face and the head, detectives said.

“His response was a string of expletives and he said something like, 'You're not going to do anything to me,'” said Detective Lt. Kevin Black of the 4th Squad. “I can tell you he was belligerent and combative and he immediately took a boxer's stance. He wanted no part of being arrested or getting a summons. Most people don't, but most people don't react like he did.”

The third officer suffered the injury to his left arm while the suspect continued to resist arrest.

“He's a tough little guy,” Lt. Black said of Prioleau.

Initially, two officers approached the suspect, and when he fought with them, two more showed up and then others arrived to try to subdue him, Black said.

The lieutenant said the officers were required to request identification in order to possibly issue him a summons to appear in court for the violation for drinking beer in public.

“You have to realize anytime police issue a ticket it's in lieu of an arrest,” Black said. “If he refuses to ID himself, they can make an arrest.”

If Prioleau did what they requested, he could have ended up with an appearance ticket in court and would have been forced to pay a fine of between $25 to $50 fine in a month. But he's now facing felony charges of

three counts of second-degree assault, resisting arrest, as well as consumption of alcohol, police said. He was arraigned on the charges in First District Court in Hempstead on June 23.

The three officers were treated and released at a local hospital, and remained on sick leave as of Friday, June 25, Black said.

Black said Prioleau has been arrested a number of times, but for nothing major before this incident. “But beating up three cops — it doesn't get any worse than that,” Black said.

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