NYPD police officer filed a complaint alleging sergeant tugged her ponytail to prove a point – causing 'substantial' neck pain
- Officer Christine Meisner filed an official complaint against Sgt. Nakia Middleton-House in January, NY Post reports.
- "You put your hair in a bun or a perp might do this," Middleton-House said before the alleged hair pull, reports say.
An NYPD police officer is accusing a sergeant of yanking her ponytail in their Queens station, a complaint reads.
Officer Christine Meisner, 29, said 44-year-old Sgt. Nakia Middleton-House tugged her ponytail causing "substantial" pain in her neck, according to a complaint obtained by The New York Post.
"You put your hair in a bun or a perp might do this," Middleton-House said to Meisner, according to the complaint, before pulling her hair, the Post reported. The document said Meisner stumbled back.
In her complaint, Meisner says Middleton-House, a 17-year veteran of the force, was aware before pulling her ponytail that Meisner had an existing neck injury, according to the report from NY Post. No one was charged in the incident.
Vincent Vallelong, the president of New York City's Sergeants Benevolent Association, said the alleged incident happened in November but wasn't reported until January.
Vallelong told the NY Post that the "false report" was filed after Meisner was disciplined for not properly requesting time off. Middleton-House was disciplined in 2018 for using a department database for information unrelated to work.
Vallelong added that in a video depicting the alleged incident "the officer did not stumble and the sergeant did not jerk her back," he told NY Post.
"If we would like to send the wrong message and discipline our sergeant for doing her job then tell me what message I should send to all my members across the department!"