Betty Cater, an 80-year-old Black woman, was parked in front of her home in Long Island, New York, when she called police in 2024, believing her house was being burglarized. The first Nassau County officers who arrived advised her to remain in her car for her safety while they investigated. Be tty Cater was abused and arrested by police, then accused of abusing and hospitalizing a cop. She is now suing. (Photo: facebook.com/betty.cater.52270) But when additional officers arrived, they inexplicably ordered her out of the vehicle. Despite Cater’s attempts to explain that she was following the initial officers’ instructions, they dragged her out by her feet and slammed her onto the ground. During the takedown, officers chipped three of her teeth. One officer allegedly drove his knee into her back and twisted her arms behind her to handcuff her. ‘I Was Never Stopped’: White Man Admits He Broke the Law Daily With Zero Consequences—Then Points to the Moment a Black Father Was Hunted Down and Killed Police then charged her with assaulting an officer, claiming she punched one of them in the face. A year later, all charges were dismissed. Last week, Cater, now 81, filed a lawsuit against the officers involved — Nassau County police officers Michael Shannon, Anthony J. Catinella, Lt. Daniel DeCastro, and several John and Jane Doe officers — accusing them of using excessive force and fabricating charges. The lawsuit states that Cater was hospitalized for four days after the arrest to treat injuries to her arms, back, shoulders, and knees. “The false arrest was so violent, other officers intervened to stop it,” the lawsuit, filed by New York attorney Lonnie Hart Jr., states. Violent Arrest Over a Burglary Call The arrest took place on September 1, 2024, in Hempstead, after a neighbor told Cater her home was being burglarized. She called 911 for help. The first responding officers, according to the complaint, acted professionally. But the second group took a drastically different approach, demanding she exit her vehicle even though she was the 911 caller — not the suspect. According to the lawsuit: The plaintiff tried to explain to the the defendant officers that the first officers on the scene told her to stay in her car. She advised the defendants to consult with their fellow officers. Instead, the defendants cursed at the plaintiff to get her a– out of the car and threatened her with arrest. When plaintiff questioned what she would be arrested for she was told they didn’t have to tell her.  The complaint continues that the officers “yanked open” her car door, dragged her out by her feet, and caused her to fall to the ground, exposing her body in public as she was wearing a dress. Cater “did not assault or threaten any officer,” the complaint emphasizes, noting that she never committed or even appeared to commit any crime. Still, she was charged with assault on an officer, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental operations. Those charges were not dismissed until Aug. 29, 2025. Local media at the time framed the police as victims, reporting that an officer had been hospitalized after being punched and scratched, but making no mention that Cater herself was hospitalized for four days due to multiple injuries. The lawsuit accuses the officers, the county, and the police department of violating her Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights through excessive force, false arrest, fabricated evidence, and malicious prosecution. While plaintiff was in defendants’ custody following her arrest, the defendants completed, or caused to be completed, arrest paperwork in which one or more of the defendants falsely claimed, at least in part, that plaintiff punched defendant Shannon in the face and resisted arrest.  The defendants forwarded, or caused to be forwarded, the arrest paperwork, and possibly other documentation, containing these materially and fundamentally false allegations to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office (“NCDA”).  The purpose of transmitting the documentation concerning plaintiff’s arrest to the NCDA was to ensure that the NCDA would initiate plaintiff’s criminal prosecution. A Pattern of Racial Discrimination The Nassau County Police Department has a documented history of racial profiling and excessive force, with multiple lawsuits alleging discriminatory practices. In 2023, a class-action suit accused the department of disproportionately targeting Black and Latino residents in arrests and traffic stops. “While Black and Latino people make up 29% of Nassau residents, they make up 61% of arrests, 50% of traffic stops, 60% of field interviews and 69% of the pat downs according to police data,” reported WSHU Public Radio in 2023. “White drivers get an average of 1.3 tickets per stop. Black and Latino drivers get an average of 2 and 2.1 tickets per stop, respectively.” In 2023, Nassau County officers tasered a Black man twice for allegedly jaywalking while he was helping a friend restart a motorcycle. And in 2024, officers slammed an innocent 60-year-old Black man to the ground after mistaking him for another man 20 years younger. “So every Black man fits the f—— description?” Tyrone Phifer told the officers who had slammed and handcuffed him. New York Cops Drag 80-Year-Old Black Woman from Car and Break Her Teeth After She Calls 911 for Help, Charging Her With Assault — Now She Wants Payback ...read more read less