By Mira Wassef
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten
Island barbershop owners say they were roughed up by a bunch of overzealous
cops who stormed into their store last week during an undercover operation that
went bust.
Michael Pacheco, 25, the owner
of the EZ Does It shop at 1807 Forest Ave. in Graniteville, alleges he suffered
a hemorrhaged right eye last Friday when an officer struck him in the side of
the face with his police radio while he was handcuffed.
"The cop had his hands
around my neck, hit me in the face and they were kicking and hitting me in the
face," Pacheco said. "I went down when he hit me with the radio. Then
he put his knee on my neck when I was down."
The police also arrested his
father, Michael Pacheco Sr. and his brother Stephen Cummings, 29, during the
commotion.
The incident was caught on a
9-minute video taken by a barbershop employee.