Retired black tennis star James Blake, in an NYPD double-fault, was slammed to a Manhattan sidewalk and handcuffed by a white cop in a brutal case of mistaken identity.
The 35-year-old Blake, once ranked No. 4 in the world, suffered a cut to his left elbow and bruises to his left leg as five cops eventually held him for 15 minutes Wednesday outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
“It was definitely scary and definitely crazy,” Blake told the Daily News. “In my mind there’s probably a race factor involved, but no matter what there’s no reason for anybody to do that to anybody.”
Blake said none of the white cops identified themselves, including the officer who charged straight at the Harvard-educated athlete and bounced him off the E. 42nd St. concrete around noon.