EMT worker, firefighter arrested after Bed-Stuy brawl

Two city employees were arrested after police officers broke up a dispute in Bedford-Stuyvestant Saturday night, but relatives claim there's more to the story than the NYPD's account. Officers say

News 12 Staff

Aug 24, 2015, 2:38 AM

Updated 3,413 days ago

Share:

Two city employees were arrested after police officers broke up a dispute in Bedford-Stuyvestant Saturday night, but relatives claim there's more to the story than the NYPD's account.
Officers say they were called to Herbert Von King Park on Tompkins Avenue and Van Buren Street at around midnight for a report of a large dispute.
At the scene they say they found a 47-year-old man with cuts to his head and body, and a 22-year-old man who had been hit in the head with a cane and suffered swelling and bleeding.
Police say 20-year-old Kenshawn Felton was arrested and charged with assault, resisting arrest and criminal possession of a weapon for the cane.
After Felton was taken into custody, an off-duty New York City EMT worker identified as Janice Gardner allegedly punched a police officer. Gardner was charged with assault.
Officials say Gardner's brother, Aaron Gardner, who is an FDNY firefighter, then attempted to punch a police officer and was charged with attempted assault.
Two other people were given summonses for disorderly conduct.
Relatives of the Gardners, however, argue that police have the situation all wrong. They say that Janice Gardner was being harassed by a man in the park earlier in the evening during a family barbecue, and she asked him to stop recording her. They say she slapped a phone out of his hand, and he allegedly brought a group of men back to the park to beat her up.
Relatives say that's when police got involved, and her brother also came to her defense.
"She didn't hit a police officer, the police officer was actually charging in hitting everybody," says a cousin. "They hit us with sticks, they Maced our 14-year-old little sister."
The family also claims that Felton never had a cane in his hand.