Brooklyn man shot by police, cleared by grand jury to sue

A Brooklyn man plans to sue the city for $20 million after he says police officers shot him and falsely accused him of shooting at them. Sanford Rubenstein, who represents Zaequan Footman, held a news

News 12 Staff

May 12, 2016, 6:54 AM

Updated 3,067 days ago

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A Brooklyn man plans to sue the city for $20 million after he says police officers shot him and falsely accused him of shooting at them.
Sanford Rubenstein, who represents Zaequan Footman, held a news conference Wednesday. He said his client was shot at 19 times and that one bullet struck Footman's wrist.
According to the NYPD, Footman got involved when plainclothes officers were trying to arrest a man near the Farragut Houses in April. They said Footman brandished a gun and that they shot at him and he ran away. 
They also released video of Footman running into a building in the complex.
Although Jeffrey Maddrey, of the NYPD, initially told reporters that Footman shot at police during the incident, that information isn't in the official police statement.
According to Rubenstein, Footman was walking through the housing complex when he saw the plainclothes officers with guns, got scared and ran away. 
Rubenstein said his client was holding a cellphone, not a gun. "When is the NYPD going to stop trying to dirty-up victims who were wrongfully shot?" asked Rubenstein.
Rubenstein also claimed that after a grand jury cleared Footman of a menacing charge, police armed with a warrant ransacked Footman's mother's home looking for a gun. 
It is unclear whether that warrant was issued before the grand jury cleared Footman.