James Blake, ex-tennis star, blasts New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio after cop not punished for arrest
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sept. 12, 2015: Former tennis star James Blake discusses his mistaken arrest by the New York City Police Department during an interview in New York. (AP)
Former tennis star James Blake blasted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday after the officer who falsely arrested Blake in 2015 received no punishment for the incident.
Blake was forced to the ground outside a Manhattan hotel in September 2015 by Officer James Frascatore. Blake apparently resembled an credit-card scam suspect who was supposedly armed.
“It's disappointing that the de Blasio administration and NYPD failed to notify me that James Frascatore was in a departmental trial yesterday related to the incident involving me in 2015,” Blake said in a statement, according to The Daily Mail. “But the lack of real punishment for Frascatore is the bigger travesty.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Blake argued there should have been more transparency about Frascatore’s trial and information regarding his case shouldn't remain secret. He added Frascatore should be fired for his “abusive force.”
“Frascatore's employment with the NYPD should be terminated and he should not be allowed to sully the badge that so many other good cops wear with honor,” he said. “The baseless claims made by Frascatore against me in the departmental trial are a desperate attempt to justify his unjustifiable and abusive use of force against me back in 2015.”
Frascatore sued Blake, among others, last year alleging he was thrown under the bus because the former No. 4 in the world is a celebrity.