Derrick Plowden?s family members are relieved he has been released from prison, but he and the family contend the NYPD is covering up what really happened the night he was arrested.

The NYPD says Plowden was spotted in a park holding a gun around 3 a.m. on Sept. 2. Police say he ran and they chased him down, shooting him once in the leg in the process. Police say Plowden shot first.

Plowden and his lawyer, Damien Brown, say the 19-year-old did not have a gun at the scene or when he was chased. Brown says Plowden was brutally beaten and mistreated by police officers in the aftermath of the chase.

Plowden says he was in the park that night setting up a memorial for a friend who was recently murdered by someone in the projects. He says the man who murdered his friend chased him from the park, and he was running from that man, not police.

Plowden?s mother says she wants the officers who violated her son to be charged.

The NYPD says in response to the accusations, ?The suspect pulled a gun on the police officer and posed a great threat to him. The officer responded with the appropriate use of force to end that threat.?