Tennis star James Blake no longer threatening to sue New York after wrongful tackle
In exchange, the city is establishing the "James Blake CCRB Fellowship."
— -- Tennis star James Blake withdrew his notice of claim against the City of New York, nearly two years after he was tackled by a plainclothes police officer who wrongly identified Blake as a suspect in a credit card fraud ring. In exchange, the city agreed to establish the “James Blake CCRB Fellowship” to investigate police misconduct.
The arrangement appoints a fellow to the CCRB, who will perform outreach in neighborhoods with a high volume of police complaints to help the agency close more of its investigations.
In exchange for the creation of the fellowship, Blake has agreed to withdraw the notice of claim that he filed against the city. The city law department will also pay about $175,000 in legal costs Blake accumulated over the past two years and his travel expenses associated with developing the fellowship.
Blake’s attorney, Kevin Marino, said, “Mr. Blake and I are very pleased that we were able to turn this unfortunate incident to advantage with the establishment of the James Blake CCRB Fellowship."
The officer who tackled Blake, James Frascatore, was later brought up on departmental charges after the CCRB determined he used excessive force. Frascatore has been negotiating a plea deal with the CCRB, but no resolution has been reached.