By Ray Dombrowski
BUFFALO — The woman who was shoved to the sidewalk by Buffalo’s second-highest-ranking police official on Chippewa Street this summer has filed notice that she intends to sue the city. The filing has paused the department’s internal review of what happened.
Taryn D. Morris-Hunter, 29, hurt her right wrist, tailbone and back in the July 11 encounter with First Deputy Police Commissioner Craig Macy, according to a notice of claim first reported by The Buffalo News. The city’s law department received the claim Sept. 17.
A notice of claim is the required first step before suing a municipality in New York. According to department records cited by The News, the filing has halted the Internal Affairs Division’s review of Mr. Macy’s conduct.
What the claim says
The encounter happened at about 11:50 p.m. outside D-Tour Bar & Grill, 49 W. Chippewa St., on a night when police were breaking up several fights in the entertainment district.
According to the claim, Ms. Morris-Hunter went to a police officer to ask for help for a friend. That officer, whom she and her lawyer have not identified, shoved her. Then, the claim says, Mr. Macy shoved her to the ground in response to her request for help.
Bystander video posted to social media by the accounts @Djreese716 and @Buffalo4KTV showed Mr. Macy pushing her and her falling backward. The department later released his body-camera footage, which shows him running toward a fight between women on the ground just before she falls, WKBW reported.
Her attorney, Melissa D. Wischerath, did not respond to questions from The News. Spokespeople for the police department and Mayor Sean Ryan did not immediately respond. Both usually decline to comment on pending litigation.
Mr. Macy was not suspended and has stayed on duty.
How City Hall responded in July
Two days after the incident, Police Commissioner Erika Shields called the clip troubling.
“The social media video clip circulating of Deputy Commissioner Macy during the disturbances on Chippewa Street Saturday night is concerning,” Ms. Shields said in a statement released to WBEN. “We are gathering additional video and information to conduct a thorough review of the incident. We will not comment further until that review is complete.”
The next day, she released the body-camera video, defended Mr. Macy’s actions and referred the case to Internal Affairs for what the department called a standard review.
Mr. Ryan, announcing weekend traffic closures and crowd-control measures on Chippewa that week, described a street that had gotten out of hand.
“The short social media clip doesn’t look good. But here’s what we know: it was a chaotic scene. There were multiple fights happening at the same time right in that proximity,” Mr. Ryan said, according to WKBW. “We’re canvassing the area. We’re going to get more footage on it, but this will be investigated as any officer would be investigated.”
“It’s Chippewa Street. It’s not a Buffalo Bills tailgate,” he added. He said patrolling the strip had already cost the city $1 million in police overtime and regular time.
Union backs the deputy; critics want a suspension
Buffalo Police Benevolent Association President John Davidson said officers who were there described chaos.
“Kind of a microcosm of what we saw on the Fourth of July,” Mr. Davidson told WKBW. “There was a stabbing, there were shooting, there were fighting, fights all over, and the department was trying to do their best with a short-staffed department and an overworked membership to keep the peace.”
After Ms. Shields stood by her deputy, he said: “The PBA is pleased to see the Commissioner and City stand by DPC Macy and we look forward to the same level of support and understanding for our rank and file members while they are policing during this increasingly violent summer in the City of Buffalo.”
Not everyone at City Hall was as comfortable. Council Member Mitch Nowakowski said the video bothered him.
“It did give me concern because I saw a woman get shoved down to the ground. And it also paired with knowing the deputy commissioner who was involved is a person of high regard,” Mr. Nowakowski said.
The advocacy group Our City Action Buffalo called on Ms. Shields to suspend Mr. Macy immediately. She did not.
What comes next
The notice gives the city a chance to investigate and settle before a lawsuit is filed. In New York, a claimant generally has a year and 90 days from the incident to sue a city. If the city doesn’t settle, Ms. Morris-Hunter would have until early October 2027 to go to court.
For now, the public has no finding from Internal Affairs on whether the department’s first deputy commissioner used appropriate force. Until the claim is resolved, it may not get one.
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