Timothy Pearson, a longtime close associate and senior advisor to Mayor Eric Adams, committed misconduct when he physically attacked two security guards at a migrant shelter who’d demanded to see his identification, the city Department of Investigation has found.

In the incident, first reported by THE CITY, Pearson shoved both a male and female guard who had requested his ID when arriving for an October 2023 visit to a Midtown shelter. The mayor had assigned him the task of overseeing the rollout of a rapidly expanding shelter system the istration relied on to address the wave of migrants arriving in the city.

The DOI has determined following its investigation of the incident that Pearson committed misconduct because he didn’t follow proper protocol when the guard requested ID.

The report found that both Pearson and his driver lied about what happened, saying Pearson had been assaulted, which prompted the responding NYPD officers to wrongfully arrest two security guards on site. 

Pearson “unjustifiably refused to show identification to security staff at the facility’s entrance and then became physically aggressive with two security staff after they attempted to prevent him from entering the building because he refused to show identification as required,” the report states.

“It should go without saying that Senior City officials, like all City employees, must follow City rules, conduct themselves professionally, and treat others with courtesy and respect,” DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said. “His conduct, as evidenced by witness statements and Body Worn Camera footage that DOI reviewed, fell far below our most basic expectations for public servants.”

Diane Struzzi, a spokesperson for the DOI, said they’d send the findings to the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office and would assist with any potential prosecution if they deem fit. A spokesperson for Bragg didn’t return a request for comment immediately.

Pearson’s attorney Hugh Mo declined to comment on the report.

Pearson resigned in September after federal authorities seized his phone in a broad-ranging corruption probe that’s swept up many top Adams’ aides. At the time, Adams said his longtime friend had stepped down for personal reasons.

Before his resignation, Pearson, a retired NYPD Inspector, was one of Adams closest confidants, tasked with running the Mayor’s Office of Municipal Services Assessment, a newly created office tasked with cost savings across city agencies. In that role he was given broad latitude over contracts related to migrants shelters and services. 

The day of the Touro incident, Pearson was said to have come to inspect the fire alarm system at the shelter, which was located in a vacant university building across the street from Penn Station. 

Initial reports after the altercation from the New York Post and the Daily News first aligned with Pearon’s of events, citing anonymous law enforcement sources who’d said the guards had “exceed[ed] their authority and want[ed] to act like thugs instead of people who want to work for the city.” A spokesperson for Adams office at the time said Pearson had been “denied access to a city contractor-operated site and then accosted by a contractor operating on site.”

But that narrative quickly came under question when THE CITY reported on a dozen eyewitness statements from staffers at the shelter who described the opposite, saying Pearson was the aggressor who cursed at the guards, and shoved them when he refused to provide identification and wouldn’t let him in.

For its report, DOI reviewed body camera footage and interviewed multiple witnesses, concluding that Pearson first pushed a male guard aside at the Touro Facility site after refusing to present any identification, then pushed a female guard who confronted him — an that aligns with THE CITY’s reporting on the incident. 

“Six witnesses recalled Pearson responding aggressively and with expletives; one witness wrote that Pearson said, “Who the fuck are you,” while another recalled him saying “Get the fuck out of my face,” the report states. 

The eyewitnesses went on to describe Pearson threatening the jobs of the security guards and then pushing two guards, Terrance Rosenthal and Tour Commander Leesha Bell. 

“Staff described the push as forceful. Some of these witnesses believed that Pearson pushed Bell’s upper chest area (around the clavicles), while others recalled his hands making with her neck. Most of the witnesses also stated that Pearson’s push caused Bell to either stumble backward onto a table behind her or fall onto the ground. Bell herself stated that Pearson wrapped both hands on her neck and shoved her, causing her to fall backwards onto the counter behind her,” the report reads.

The push triggered a “chaotic” “melee” that “resulted in injuries to bystanders in the lobby of the Touro facility, as well as outside,” the report found. “Witnesses recalled several uniformed Arrow guards rushing towards Pearson, holding him by the arms, and physically removing him from the building.”

Once outside, Pearson approached NYPD officers stationed near the shelter and told them to call in a “10-85,” a specific type of call made by active service , which triggered the response of seven additional police units and more than a dozen officers.

Pearson then misrepresented himself as an active NYPD member to arriving officers on the scene, telling them the guards “chest-bumped” him and “pushed him out, locked the doors, and didn’t let him in,” and complained that his back hurt. The officers deferred to Pearson’s version of the story, taking Bell and Rosenthal into custody. 

Rosenthal spent “several days” in central booking before he was arraigned. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg later declined to prosecute either Bell or Rosenthal. 

Three, security guards Rosenthal, Bell and Angelica Weldon, have sued Pearson and the city for the ordeal.

Jason Steinberger, an attorney representing the three guards, thanked the DOI for their “swift, yet extensive investigation corroborating the civil rights violations of Terrence Rosenthal, Leesha Bell and Angelica Weldon,” he said. “I trust the City will enforce strict measures to hold Timothy Pearson able and ensure city employees are held to the highest of standards.”

A spokesperson for Adams, Kayla Mamelak Altus, said: “Tim Pearson is no longer employed by this istration. We are reviewing the report.” The city’s Law Department is defending Pearson in court against multiple lawsuits, including the one filed by the security guards, and others alleging he sexually harassed a subordinate and then retaliated against her and others when she tried to report it.