Jaywalker, 84, injured by police
Print Edition
Police in New York City have been accused of overreacting after an 84-year-old man, believed to be of Chinese origin, was injured and had to go to hospital after he was pulled up for jaywalking.
Kang Wong was stopped by police when he was strolling north on Broadway and crossing 96th Street against a light on Sunday afternoon, according to the New York Post.
It said police were targeting jaywalkers following the third pedestrian fatality in the area this year.
Wong, who lives a block away, appeared not to understand the officer, witnesses said.
One said the officer stood the elderly man up against a wall and was trying to write a ticket, but Wong didn’t seem to understand and was struggling to get away. Other officers arrived, according to the witnesses, and Wong was left bleeding and dazed with cuts to his face.
He was handcuffed and taken to hospital. Later, he was taken to a police station to be charged with jaywalking, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct.
However, officials told the newspaper that “the incident is under internal review.”
The violence unfolded in front of several news reporters, who had been at the scene documenting an accident that killed pedestrian Samantha Lee just 12 hours earlier.
After Lee’s death, the newspaper said, police were writing up pedestrians for jaywalking at US$250 a time.
A video of the incident sparked a heated debate among Internet users in China because Wong looked like he was Chinese.
Some said the elderly man was wrong to jaywalk while others accused police of overreacting.
US standup comedian Joe Wong, who was born in China, commented on a Chinese news website: “The old man was wrong in the first place. He should not have tried to walk away as well. But the police probably overreacted, and it would be appropriate to charge them.”
Others said he may not have understood what the police were trying to do, while there was some sympathy for officers trying to enforce the law.
One contrasted their behavior with those of their Chinese counterparts. “The Chinese police stress education a lot but more people are breaking the rules,” an Internet user wrote. “Jaywalking is dangerous to both the pedestrian and the others. Such behavior should be punished.”
Last summer, police in Shanghai introduced measures to deal with jaywalking. Pedestrians obeying the law could win tickets to tourist sites, while those who did not were fined and forced to read aloud the rules of the road.
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