Video shows off-duty BPD officer was not stabbed

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Investigators say it was the early morning hours of October 31, 2018 when off-duty Buffalo Police Officer Andrew Rechin got into a confrontation with 27-year-old Denzell Fuller.

Rechin claimed in a police report he was "stabbed" in the scuffle, which led police to arrest Fuller that night, but surveillance video from Coles that was provided during the Fuller investigation painted a different picture, according to Erie County District Attorney John Flynn.

Flynn says the tape shows no knife during the initial scuffle, instead shows Rechin throwing the first punch. Flynn says the stab wound was caused by broken glass.

Charges against Fuller were recently dropped, and Rechin, who was a rookie officer still on his BPD probationary period was fired from the department last month.

Flynn says this is all part of a larger issue, sometimes police reports don't tell the whole story. Surveillance video, body camera footage or video from a cell phone can validate or contradict a crime.