A man who received a 20-year prison sentence for stabbing an NYPD officer in the head is now suing New York City for $45 million,
reports the New York Post.
Hugo Antonio Hernandez, 27, is representing himself. He claims that officers did not follow proper procedure as they attempted to frisk him and a friend in a Brooklyn subway station after the police had found them smoking cigarettes, a ticketable offense. Hernandez claims he believed he was going “to be executed.”
That’s when Hermandez plunged a knife with a 6-inch blade into the head of Officer Angel Cruz Jr., penetrating his brain. Cruz then fired his gun at Hernandez, hitting him four times.
Hernandez claims cops beat him after he was handcuffed. He also insists the incident would not have happened if the officers had followed proper protocol in the first place.
Hernandez had previously been diagnosed with several mental disorders, and told one mental-health professional that he thought he was on a “mission from God” to fight oppression.
Cruz survived the attack. He went back to work, but reportedly suffers from memory loss.