A Queens couple is taking the city to federal court after a viral video showed a father being beaten and tased while holding his infant inside a city-run migrant shelter, according to a new lawsuit. The complaint accuses New York City and multiple NYPD officers of false arrest, excessive force and unlawful family separation, and says the 2024 confrontation left the family with physical injuries and long-lasting emotional trauma.
Lawsuit filed in federal court
According to Justia Dockets & Filings, the case, titled Cordero et al v. The City of New York et al, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on July 16, 2026. The plaintiffs are listed as Yanny Cordero and Andrea Parra Mendoza, with the City of New York and several NYPD members named as defendants on the docket.
What the original video showed
The run-in unfolded inside a city-run shelter at 148-18 Archer Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, and was captured on video that local outlets said showed officers wrestling the father to the floor and using a stun device while he held his one-year-old child. Mayor Eric Adams publicly defended the officers at the time and said the priority was getting the child to safety, as reported by ABC7. The Administration for Children's Services responded to the scene, and officials said the family requested a new shelter placement.
How authorities responded
Local reporting said officers from the 103rd Precinct arrested the couple after responding to a disturbance, and that the family’s children were briefly separated from their parents at the precinct before being reunited, QNS reported. The footage and the arrests sparked calls from immigrant-rights groups for an independent review of how police operate inside shelters.
Allegations in the new complaint
Coverage of the newly filed complaint by the New York Post says the suit claims officers punched and shoved Cordero, then tased him multiple times while he was holding his infant, and that shelter staff hurled racial slurs and struck him. The complaint, the Post reports, accuses the City and individual officers of false arrest, excessive force and unlawful family separation, and seeks damages for physical injuries and trauma to the children. According to the Post, the family also says the children suffered separation anxiety after the episode and that an order of protection was issued; the city declined to comment on the litigation.
What the filing claims legally
The docket listing indicates the plaintiffs invoked federal civil-rights jurisdiction in bringing the case to federal court, according to Justia Dockets & Filings. The complaint focuses its legal arguments on the level of force used, the decision to remove the children from their parents and whether officers and shelter staff followed proper procedure. In a case like this, discovery of body-worn-camera footage and shelter records is likely to sit at the center of both sides’ arguments.
What to watch next
The suit now moves into the standard federal-court grind, where defendants typically file either an answer to the complaint or motions challenging it. The New York Post reports that related criminal charges tied to the March 2024 shelter incident were dismissed in December 2024, and that Cordero was later acquitted at trial in July 2025. The city has declined to comment on the civil case, the Post adds.
The filing puts fresh heat on the city’s handling of crowded shelters for asylum-seekers and how those spaces are policed and staffed. Immigrant-rights groups told local outlets they were troubled by the video and pushed for independent review even as city officials defended the officers’ conduct at the scene, per ABC7. Lawyers for both sides are expected to begin trading paperwork as the case moves deeper into litigation.
