Cops wrestle teen off Citi Bike as video of wild takedown has NYPD taking heat

The NYPD is taking heat after viral video captured three cops wrestling a lone teenager off his Citi Bike and onto the sidewalk during an East Village scuffle last week.

The unidentified 18-year-old was riding the bike at the intersection of Avenue B and East 14th Street on Thursday when he peddled into a police traffic checkpoint and onto the sidewalk, the clip posted on Instagram by nys–ttynews shows.

Two cops are seen grabbing the teen’s arms when a third cop jumps in and body slams him onto the ground. Three are then seen pulling the bike rider’s hair and pressing a knee to his head before he’s finally cuffed and led to a waiting police vehicle.

“Absolutely bs,” one Instagram user wrote. “There’s no reason to treat a kid like this over a Citi Bike.”

Another poster asked, “Why does it take 6-8 payrolls worth of tax dollars to arrest a lil scrawny kid?”

“This only happens in the hood,” yet another Instagram user said. “I don’t see them pulling white men off their bikes after running a red light on Park Avenue. He was not resisting, his body is reacting to pain of being twisted like a pretzel. This is wrong.”

The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

However, sources told The Post that the teen, whose charges were sealed because of his age, rode the Citi Bike through a red light near a traffic safety checkpoint and refused to stop when cops asked.

Another person was riding on the bike’s handle bars, the sources said — but rather than stop the teen maneuvered onto the sidewalk and began swerving before the officers moved in, the sources said.

During the confrontation, he resisted by refusing to put his arms behind his back, according to the sources.

Some online users agreed — and blamed the two-wheeled teen.

“He was resisting the entire time,” one wrote. “This was tactical and done for EVERYONES safety.”

One Instagram user also took issue with the cop trashing comments.

“Please stop with the ridiculous comments in the video,” they wrote. “The police go through intensive training on how to restrain individuals who aren’t allowing the officers to cuff this individual.

“Let’s allow our NYPD to do their jobs safely.”