NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's Bodyguard Allegedly Assaulted NYC Photographer

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http://gothamist.com/2014/09/29/nfl_bodyguard_photographer.

1 NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's Bodyguard Allegedly Assaulted NYC Photographer JB Nicholas (far right) sits in handcuffs as NYPD officers tell photographers to stop shooting pictures at the scene of the incident. (courtesy JB Nicholas) 1

2 Two days before NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell apologized for the league's lenient treatment of perpetrators of domestic violence and sexual assault, his security head and bodyguard allegedly punched and choked a Daily News photographer in a patch of rose bushes on East 93rd Street and Park Avenue. "I saw the driver get out of his car very aggressively, grab the photographer, and shout 'You're under arrest, I'm a policeman!'" says Joshua Holland, who witnessed the encounter while he was walking his dog. "The driver pulled the photographer off his bike, wrestled him to the ground in the median, and punched him in the face once. Then he was on top of him holding him down with an arm bar, a forearm jammed into his neck," Holland says. "He was freaking out and shouting 'I'm a cop! I'm a cop!' I was like, does this guy have a gun? I was a little worried about that." Freelance photographer JB Nicholas says that on September 17th he was staking out NFL headquarters on Park Avenue and East 52nd Street with several other Daily News reporters in hopes of getting a shot of Goodell. "All day I had been watching NFL owners come and go," Nicholas says. "And they were being escorted by Thomas Crowe. He's the head of NFL security for the building and acts as Roger Goodell's personal bodyguard when he's in New York. He was the one who drove Goodell's SUV out of his Bronxville residence the previous morning." Nicholas says he saw Crowe leave the building in the SUV, and figured Goodell might be riding with him, or that he might meet him later to be picked up, where he could snap a photo. So he began biking uptown, following the 2014 Cadillac Escalade up Park Avenue. "Somewhere between 88th and 89th, the truck pulls up alongside me on the passenger side, turns on its windshield wipers and pins me against a double parked car," Nicholas says. "I was knocked off and the truck ran over my foot." Nicholas says he got back on his bike and kept following the SUV. "It was almost comical in a way, but I had to do my job." On Park and East 93rd, Nicholas claims the SUV's driver "cut the wheels to the left and gunned it, and knocked me off the bike again." Holland, the witness, says he saw the driver exit the vehicle. "The driver was just in a crazy rage; a lot of people stopped in the street and were shouting 'get off that guy!' " By his account, Nicholas had pulled out his phone to call his bosses at the Daily News and record video of the assault. 2

3 The man Nicholas claims is Thomas Crowe, head of building security at NFL headquarters, shortly after Nicholas allegedly punched him in the face, causing swelling and redness (courtesy JB Nicholas) 3

4 "He's telling everyone he's a cop, I hold him off with a stiff arm in the intersection and then my phone fell, so I figure I'd just sit down at the end of the flower bed in the median and wait for the cops to come and arrest this guy. Then he tackles me backward and puts his forearm into my neck and starts choking me." Nicholas says his "eyesight began to darken," and he realized he was about to pass out. "So I grab his tie and say, 'Stop fucking choking me!' And he loosens up and puts his hand on my diaphragm. That's when I hear sirens, and Crowe says, 'The calvary's coming.'" The police arrived and charged Nicholas with second degree assault, a felony, and third degree assault and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors. According to the criminal complaint, Nicholas punched the SUV driver in the face enough to cause swelling and redness, threw his bike at the driver and hit his knee, requiring treatment at a hospital, and keyed the SUV, causing more than $250 in damages. Nicholas says the police on the scene ignored at least two eyewitnesses, who told them that Nicholas was not the aggressor. "Crowe and [the commanding officer] greeted each other with a handshake and put their arms on each other's shoulders," Nicholas says. "Then Crowe gets into his car and drives away." 4

Welts on Nicholas's neck that he says came from Thomas Crowe strangling him in a bed of flowers (courtesy JB Nicholas) Holland says he told several police officers what happened, and one took down

5 Welts on Nicholas's neck that he says came from Thomas Crowe strangling him in a bed of flowers (courtesy JB Nicholas) Holland says he told several police officers what happened, and one took down his information. "Once the driver was out of the car, there was no question who the aggressor was. [Nicholas] did not lay a finger on him." At New York Presbyterian Hospital, Nicholas says he was given some Advil and told that nothing was broken. At the 17th Precinct, he gave a written statement to detectives, and returned from a bathroom break to see a detective tearing up his statement and throwing it in the trash. "Then [the detective] looked up and asked me if I smoked. I said no. Then he said, 'Too bad, I was gonna offer you a cigar.' It just didn't matter to them what I said, they weren't gonna charge this guy." 5

6 Nicholas spent the night in the Tombs and was interviewed by the Manhattan DA's office the next day. They asked a judge for $20,000 bail, citing a 1990 manslaughter conviction for which Nicholas served 13 years. "They misstated it as manslaughter in the first degree, not manslaughter in the second," Nicholas says. "My lawyer showed the judge the back of my neck and my knuckles and denied the bail." JB Nicholas's knuckles shortly after the incident occurred (courtesy JB Nicholas) Nicholas' next court date is set for December 1st. The NYPD still has custody of his cell phone. No one knows what happened to his bicycle, which appears to have been taken from the scene. "We're asking for a transparent investigation," Jeffrey Emdin, Nicholas's attorney says. "My client came forward, he gave his version of the events, and it really seems they were not looking to investigate the truth of what he was saying, but trying to use his words against him to make the other person's case." The Daily News retained Emdin to represent Nicholas. Emdin says that the name of Nicholas's complainant was removed from the complaint report, so technically he does not know who is pressing charges against his client. An NFL spokesman referred a request for comment to the NYPD and the DA. "We do not have a comment as this is an active law enforcement matter," the spokesman said. Both the NYPD and the DA declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Detectives' Endowment Association confirmed a single "Thomas Crowe" on their list of retired detectives. 6

7 Nicholas was acquitted at trial last year on the charge of obstructing governmental administration after police arrested him for taking photos of EMTs in the subway. "I don't expect them to dismiss the charges," Nicholas says. "I'm just a foot soldier, I just go out and do what the bosses want. I've shot political conventions, I've been to scores of murder scenes in New York City. I'm a legit journalist, they cannot dismiss what I do." [UPDATE] On December 1, the DA dismissed the charged against Nicholas. 7

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