NYPD Officer Gets Gun And Badge Taken Away After Rant On Uber Driver

The NYPD officer who was filmed berating an Uber driver has had his gun and badge confiscated.

According to the New York Post, Detective Patrick Cherry has also been taken off the Joint Terrorism Task Force and is now filling a temporary desk position.

NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton said in a statement,

No good cop should watch that video without a wince. Because all good cops know that officer just made their jobs a little bit harder. In that kind of encounter, anger like that is unacceptable.  In any encounter, discourtesy and obscene language like that is unacceptable. That officer's behavior reflected poorly on everyone who wears our uniform.

Cherry, who lives in Sayville, Long Island, had previously been a member of the NYPD's Arson and Explosives Unit, DNAinfo reports.

Uber passenger Sanjay Seth filmed Cherry unleashing a xenophobic tirade at a driver identified as "Humayun" on the West Side Highway in Greenwich Village on Monday.

The detective was reportedly driving his unmarked car in front of Humayun and attempted to park without using a signal.

Seth wrote on YouTube that Humayun honked his horn and made some sort of a gesture at Cherry telling him to use his blinker.

But according to DNAinfo, Cherry claims Humayun not only flipped him off but also mouthed "f*ck you" as he passed by.

A police source told the New York Daily News Cherry also may have been especially emotional that day since he had just come back from visiting a colleague who is hospitalized in critical condition.

Seth testified before the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) on Wednesday.

If the board finds Cherry guilty of misconduct, it will be up to Commissioner Bratton to determine what sort of disciplinary action should be taken.

Citations: NYPD cop who berated Uber driver in xenophobic rant transferred and put on modified assignment (The New York Daily News), Detective Who Screamed at Uber Driver Removed From Elite Post (DNAinfo), Cop who berated Uber driver is stripped of badge and gun (The New York Post)