A police officer knelt on a black man’s neck until he lost consciousness while his dad begged him to stop fearing his son would die like George Floyd.
Victim Yugeshwar Gaindarpersaud woke up in hospital following the incident outside his home on Monday, which was filmed and shared across social media.
The 31-year-old was being arrested in Schenectady, New York, by the unnamed officer when the hold was performed and he passed out in the police car.
He was confronted by multiple police following reports a neighbour’s tyres had been slashed – and claims he was later charged with resisting arrest.
State and city police officers have been banned from using knee-to-neck holds following the death of Mr Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
An estimated 100 people gathered outside Schenectady Police Department to protest against the latest incident in the hours after the footage surfaced – demanding the officer be sacked.
Gaindarpersaud’s dad Jaindra Gaindarpersaud filmed the 22-second clip and can be heard pleading with the cop to desist, asking: “What has he done to you?”
“You got the foot on his head. You’ve got the foot on his head,” he continues, before being told to go back inside by the cop.
Gaindarpersaud claims he was thrown to the ground after turning his back on officers, having demand they provide evidence of his involvement in the alleged tyre slashing, reports The Daily Gazette.
“His whole body weight was smashing my head into the concrete,” he told demonstrators outside the station that evening.
“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move.”
He added that he feared he would die and uttered “I can’t breathe”, the final words of Mr Floyd.
“If he had me five minutes more later…I would’ve been gone,” he added.
Gaindarpersaud reportedly suffered abrasions on his face, leg and arm.
Jaindra told the crowds: “I thought in my mind ‘he’s going to die just like George Floyd’.”
In a statement, the police department said the alleged tyre slashing was part of an ongoing neighbour dispute, with an officer going to the scene at 9.38am.
And that when an officer attempted to detain the suspect he fled, leading to a foot chase before a struggle in which the officer lost his radio.
As a result, a nearby witness had to call for back-up.
“Additional responding officers arrived on scene and were able to assist the original officer and ultimately place the male into handcuffs,” the statement added.
The police department’s Office of Professional Standards has launched an investigation into the incident.