On June 8, 2023, Buffalo Police officers pursued a stolen vehicle. The driver stopped the vehicle and fled on foot, leaving it in neutral. The vehicle rolled backward and struck a patrol car belonging to the responding officers.

When officer Justin Ayala arrived, he observed the stolen vehicle against the patrol car. He instructed several officers on scene to turn off their body-worn cameras, requested keys to the patrol car, and moved the patrol car so it was no longer in contact with the vehicle.

Because the stolen vehicle remained in neutral, it rolled backward again, striking the patrol car a second time and another nearby vehicle.

Internal Investigation

During BPD’s internal investigation, officer Ayala stated he moved the patrol car to check for damage and because the vehicle would eventually be towed. He claimed he did not know accident investigators would be notified and denied attempting to conceal the accident. He also admitted that he asked officers to turn off their body-worn cameras “to make jokes.”

Findings

• Officer Ayala interfered with the investigation of a city-involved accident.

• Officer Ayala violated the body-worn camera policy by instructing officers to turn off their cameras.

Officer Ayala was found in violation of:

• Chapter I, Section 1.1 (BPD Rules & Regulations)

• Chapter III, Sections 3.2(a) and/or 3.2(b) (BPD Rules & Regulations)

• BPD Body-Worn Camera Policy

On February 2, 2024, the Department served formal charges against Officer Ayala for the above violations. He pled guilty and accepted a one-day suspension as disciplinary action to resolve the charges.

The New York State Office of the Attorney General concured with BPD's conclusion that Officer Ayala committed misconduct by interfering with the accident investigation and violating BPD’s body-worn camera policy.

On May 7, 2023, BPD officers, including Officer Justin Ayala, responded to a dispute between a mother and her 14-year-old daughter. Upon arrival, several officers spoke with the mother in front of her home while the daughter stood across the street (approximately 15–20 feet away), yelling and cursing at her mother and the officers.

The officers and the mother discussed leaving the daughter outside and departing since the dispute had ended. During this exchange, Officer Ayala made several unprofessional and discourteous remarks:

• “I can’t deal with that shit for four more years”

• “You got four years, fuck that shit.”

• “I ain’t worried about her, she didn’t do nothing anyways.”

• Recounting a prior encounter: “Last time she got out of the car, she’s a pussy, she ran.”

• “People that want to fight us, you know what they do? They hop out the car and they fight us. They don’t talk about how they want to fight us. She ran like a pussy.”

The daughter overheard these comments, yelled at officers, and approached them. Officer Ayala motioned toward her and said, “C’mon, c’mon, I’m right here, c’mon.”

When the daughter reached toward him, Officer Ayala grabbed her arms and took her to the ground. Other officers assisted with handcuffing.

During the restraint, one officer asked, “Still think it’s a smart idea?”

The daughter responded, “No.”

The officer then said, “Then shut the fuck up.”

After handcuffing, Officer Ayala and another officer stood the daughter up and escorted her to a patrol car. During transport, her arms were pulled upward toward her shoulders.

In his interview with the Office of the Attorney General(OAG), Officer Ayala stated the daughter allegedly refused to walk, so they tilted her body forward, which caused her arms to move higher, but denied they were lifted to shoulder height. The body-worn camera footage did not show verbal commands or resistance at this point.

The daughter was charged with obstructing governmental administration in the 2nd degree and resisting arrest. The arrest report stated she resisted by, “tensing her body and attempting to recoil both her arms beneath her chest.” She sustained road rash injuries to her face from the takedown and arrest.

Post-Incident Review

During his OAG interview, Officer Ayala admitted his comments were made out of frustration and acknowledged they were inappropriate.

BPD’s internal investigation ended with a finding of “other.” Officer Ayala was required to attend a supervisor conference regarding his conduct.

BPD found that Officer Ayala violated:

• Rules & Regulations, Chapter I, Section 2.13 (discourtesy/unprofessional conduct)

• Use of Force Policy, Section 6.2(J) – officers “should not use tactics that unnecessarily escalate an encounter or create a need for force.”

The review concluded that Officer Ayala’s unprofessional comments directly escalated the situation, provoking the daughter and resulting in unnecessary force, avoidable injuries, and an arrest without probable cause for obstruction.

Officer Ayala committed misconduct during this incident by using insulting and provocative language toward a 14-year-old, encouraging physical confrontation, and violating BPD’s standards of professional conduct and use of force policy.

On October 31st, 2021, at approximately 12:42 a.m., in front of his friend’s home on Newfield Street, Andy Ocasio was filming an arrest taking place at that location.

Buffalo police officers Justin A Ayala, Daniel Carlson, Patrick Kinsella, Matthew Serafini, and Stephen Lesniak arrived on the scene and exited their police vehicle, grabbed Ocasio, and shoved him to the ground.

The police officers then beat Ocasio while he was on the ground, including sudden, violent kicks to the head, stomping on his head, and kneeing him and kneeling on his back, choking him, and spraying him with mace, and causing him to suffer serious injuries. None of the officers intervened. Lieutenant Erie Hofschnider, was the supervisor present at the scene of the incident during the assault, and also failed to interved.

While in police custody, Ocasio sustained serious injuries, including, facial trauma; significant hematoma of right eye; blurry vision of right eye; closed head injury; headaches; neck pain; and a laceration to his right cheek.