New York City police officer Karim Powell hopes to be awarded $5 million for emotional anguish following an incident with two fellow police officers in 2017, the New York Post reports. 

Powell, who is black, was stopped while driving in the Bronx. He was off-duty but had his work weapon and badge with him.

Why the stop occurred is unclear.

The two officers who stopped Powell say he led them on a chase. Powell denied this and argues that a quick check of the computers in the officers’ squad car will support his claim.

Powell says he was told to exit his vehicle and complied. Then an officer “came up, and he said, ‘Turn around,’ and placed me in cuffs.”

Powell said he then tried to inform the officers that they were brothers-in-blue.

“I took my ID out, and he said, ‘I can’t see it,’” Powell said.

Powell’s keys had been placed on the roof of his vehicle, and he claims one officer “took the keys off the roof and said, ‘F*ck that sh*t.’” 

Still, Powell says he believed being a police officer would help him. He waited “10 to 15 minutes before a patrol supervisor arrived.” Powell added, “The only thing I remember thinking of [the cop who cursed at him] was, ‘That guy’s nasty.’” 

Once the supervisor arrived, Powell was placed in a squad car. He said, “A sergeant told the officer to remove the cuffs.”

Powell was taken to the station and was put to the question; it was then he found out the officers told their supervisor he’d led them on a chase.

Powell called his union rep and told the rep, “The officers are lying, and the GPS data from their assigned marked [squad car] will prove it.” 

An investigation ensued; Powell was placed on modified duty for more than a year while it proceeded. He was finally put back on full duty in April of this year.

“I’ve been accused of something I haven’t done,” Powell said. “They were nasty. They didn’t do their job right.”

Powell has submitted a notice of claim to the courts in Manhattan and plans to pursue a formal lawsuit in the months to come.