Damar Fields, the homeless man with acknowledged emotional problems whose arrest at the Peekskill Riverfront on Dec. 3 sparked outrage from parts of the community after he was seen being tased and kicked by Peekskill police officers, pleaded guilty to a violation of “exposure of a person”[displaying unclothed body parts in a public place].
On Thursday, April 9, attorneys for Fields and prosecutors at the Peekskill City Court agreed to reduce Fields’ misdemeanor charge to a violation, and impose a one year conditional discharge and a mandatory surcharge.
Michael Sussman, attorney for Fields, told the Peekskill Herald that the plea covered the three remaining charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration.
The agreement did not cover a separate docket case of criminal possession of a controlled substance stemming from a Sept. 6, 2025 arrest.
Following the guilty plea, Sussman told reporters it was clear that Fields exposed himself based on numerous videos provided to him, which included body camera footage from police officers. However, he said that accountability should also point toward other officers at the scene.
“Mr. Fields understands what he did, but he’s also primarily concerned at this stage about holding accountable people who tased him on many occasions, beat him rather mercilessly, spoke to him in a manner that wouldn’t befit an animal, and should be held accountable,” Sussman said.
A misdemeanor complaint alleged that on Dec. 3, Fields intentionally exposed his genitalia in a lewd manner in a public park where children and adults are known to be present.
Body camera footage released by the Westchester District Attorney’s office showed a pantless Fields approaching, cursing, and threatening to kill an officer, followed by Fields being tased, kicked, and cursed at.
The Westchester County DA’s office declined to pursue criminal charges against officers involved in the incident. However, an internal investigation by the Peekskill City Police Department resulted in disciplinary charges against two officers, including Daniel Regg and Angelo Cintron, for violations of departmental policy.
Charges against Regg relate to failures in communication, de-escalation, supervision and adherence to departmental use of force and emotionally-disturbed-person policies. Charges against Cintron relate to failures in duty performance and adherence to departmental conduct and performance standards while assisting at the scene.
A disciplinary hearing for Cintron is scheduled for April, while another hearing for Regg is scheduled for May.
Chief of Police Adam Renwick told the Herald in a phone call that he would not be making a public comment at this time, noting only that the disciplinary process is continuing forward.
Sussman said he believed the charges against the officers need to be dealt with seriously and added that the other responding officers also should be held accountable.
“There were more than two officers who were present,” Sussman said. “One officer present attempted to stop the most offensive officer and told them to back off. But there were a number of officers there. None of them acted appropriately. They should have immediately desisted from the violence. None of them had any sense of how to de-escalate a situation. That was very clear.”
Darrell Davis, a spokesperson for Fields who circulated a viral video of Fields’ arrest, told the Peekskill Herald he was pleased with the outcome of the case.
“I’m very happy with it,” Davis said. “A violation that’s less than a speeding ticket. The other charges which were filed days later were bogus. We knew that, and so now it’s time to get into federal court and file this lawsuit.”
Victoria Hudson, a Tarrytown resident and member of a support committee for Fields, shared her contentment over the outcome.
“I think it’s just a complete miscarriage of justice that somebody suffering from homelessness mental challenges could be treated the way Damar Fields was treated,” Hudson told the Herald. “And even if his pants were down, nobody deserves to be tased, punched and spoken to like that. So I’m happy today that the charges have been dealt with very little harm other than pleading guilty to exposing himself.”
