After a three-week trial before the Hon. Nina Morrison in the Federal District Court, Eastern District of New York, a Brooklyn Jury came to a decision on May 29, 2025. Mr. Brian Pfail was victorious in proving that he had been beaten and maliciously prosecuted by four Nassau County Police officers from an incident that took place on November 3, 2014. He received a monetary award of nearly $2.9 million. Mr. Pfail was represented by The Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington. Mr. Brewington tried the case along with Attorney Cobia M. Powell of the same office. Full story is below and related information is attached.
Mr. Pfail’s (Current photo of Mr. Pfail attached-credit Frederick K. Brewington) story begins with a frail human being who was making an attempt to return to some level of normalcy after being subjected to violence by Nassau County Police, that shattered his life. Back on April 7, 2007, Mr. Pfail was visiting the mall with his friend when he saw a group of boys suddenly and viciously attack his friend. Mr. Pfail instinctively reacted to protect his friend and charged into the altercation. He threw a punch and hit someone, which led the group of assailants to focus all of their energy on Mr. Pfail. The assailants kicked and punched him in the head over and over again, inflicting a traumatic brain injury (TBI). At the time of his beating in 2007, Mr. Pfail was a senior at Chaminade High with excellent grades and a large group of loyal friends. He had been accepted to attend Villanova University the following year. All of this was taken from him by a senseless act of violence, which permanently altered the course of Mr. Pfail’s life.
Mr. Pfail’s TBI required extensive treatment. He had been undergoing this treatment for seven (7) years, and had been isolated from the social world for months, when he was invited to spend a night out with his friend at Buffalo Wild Wings on November 3, 2014. Mr. Pfail hoped that a peaceful night of watching hockey with his friend would provide him with a much-needed semblance of normality. Because of his brain injury, his speech was impacted and he suffered from trembling hands. After ordering one drink, Mr. Pfail sought to order a beer, when the waitress mistook the results of his brain injury for intoxication and the waitress cut Mr. Pfail off from any further bar service. Mr. Pfail instantly began to feel intense embarrassment and anxiety, as though every eye in the establishment was focused on him. Due to his TBI, Mr. Pfail is prone to bouts of stuttering when he is forced into high-stress scenarios. The waitress, unaware of Mr. Pfail’s disability, after conferring with her manager, the waitress loudly told Mr. Pfail that he could not have another and accused him of being drunk, in effect drawing the entire establishment’s attention to Mr. Pfail. This was a nightmare scenario for Mr. Pfail, who felt as though the world was ready to devour him. Mr. Pfail was immediately assailed by memories of a time when he was able to negotiate difficult social situations, and he was deeply troubled by his feelings of present inadequacy.
Mr. Pfail found himself at a restaurant, surrounded by people who appeared to him to be hostile. As Mr. Pfail tried to explain himself, he was dismissed. As the situation deteriorated, he was scared, frustrated, and embarrassed, and with every passing moment, he felt less able to process the events occurring around him. Mr. Pfail panicked and, in an attempt to escape this traumatic situation, he paid his bill and ran from the restaurant. While leaving, Mr. Pfail did strike the window in one of the doors, causing it to break.
The breaking of the glass was directly related to his inability to process an overwhelming situation. After Mr. Pfail left Buffalo Wild Wings, he hopped a fence and went to a nearby Fairway supermarket in a nearby shopping center, and called his girlfriend and spoke to his brother to explain his situation. Mr. Pfail was at this time standing with his back turned to the shopping center’s parking lot. Suddenly, several Nassau County Police Officers, JOSEPH MASSARO, POLICE OFFICER JONATHAN PANUTHOS, SERGEANT THOMAS IANNUCCI, all dressed in plain clothes, pulled up in an unmarked Jeep Cherokee. (Copy of Video available upon Request). The officers made no attempt to identify themselves, ask Mr. Pfail to surrender, or provide any warning whatsoever of what they were about to do. Instead, the officers rushed Mr. Pfail, who was still on the phone and causing him to be startled at their presence. As they rushed him, Panuthos kicked Mr. Pfail in his abdomen (See attached still taken from video), knocking the wind out of him and they began beating him and tackled him to the ground into the vestibule of the Fairway Supermarket.
The video footage shows that Mr. Pfail was surprised and immediately overwhelmed by a wave of bodies and had no opportunity to take any action against the officers, let alone defend himself. Despite Mr. Pfail’s lack of resistance, the officers continued to beat him about his body and especially his head. This beating was witnessed by a bystander who called 911 to report an assault in progress. (Copy of 911 call attached). The three officers were then joined by a fourth Nassau County Police Officer, KAREN C. O’BRIEN, who continued to batter Mr. Pfail.
By the time the officers finally relented, Mr. Pfail suffered multiple wounds, including a gash to his front forehead/frontal lobe area from which he was bleeding and he lay in a puddle of blood 8-10 inches in diameter. (Still from the video is attached) The officers, whom Mr. Pfail still had no way of identifying as police officers, essentially forced Mr. Pfail to relive the traumatic gang assault which had cost him his bright future.
The officers’ actions were obviously excessive, unreasonable, unlawful, and contrary to proper police procedure. Similarly obvious is the officers’ motive for charging Mr. Pfail with multiple felonies: to justify and conceal their unlawful and brutal beating of Mr. Pfail. On November 3, 2014, Mr. Pfail was arrested by members of the Nassau County Police Department, and then indicted under Indictment No.: 00402N-15 with committing the following crimes: four (4) counts of Assault in the Second Degree in violation of Penal Law §120.05(3), Resisting Arrest in violation of Penal Law §25.30, and Criminal Mischief in the Third (3rd) Degree in violation of Penal Law §145.05(2). The criminal case was tried to a jury and he was acquitted of all the charges, except the breaking of the window.
As a result of the beating, unreasonable and excessive force, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, battery and other violations, Mr. Pfail received at the hands of the officers, Mr. Pfail received staples in his head (Photo attached) and has been deeply traumatized and brought a lawsuit, suing for the serious damages caused by the Nassau Police. All of his prior symptoms intensified after the police beat him on November 3, 2014.
On May 12, 2025 the trial in Mr. Pfail’s civil lawsuit against Nassau County and four police officer began and in a split (bifurcated) trial on May 23, 2025 a Jury of four men and four women rendered a verdict finding the officers liable for Excessive Force, Malicious Prosecution, Abuse of process and Battery and on May 29, 2025 that same jury awarded Mr. Pfail $2,884,000. (Copies of the Verdict Sheets are attached.)
For more information, call (516) 489-6959 or visit www.brewingtonlaw.com.
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About The Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington
The Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington is a well-respected litigation firm with an office in Hempstead, Long Island. Our focus is primarily in the area of civil rights, voting rights, employment discrimination, police misconduct, personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death and criminal law. However, the Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington is a full-service law firm handling matters in numerous areas of law and providing a wide range of services from contract formation to litigation and trial practice. It is the largest African-American-owned law firm on Long Island and has been designated by the New York Law Journal as one of the top minority-owned firms in the state of New York. For more information, call (516) 489-6959 or visit www.brewingtonlaw.com.
