NY1 VIDEO: Today, Abner Louima is remembered as a outspoken victim who suffered a particularly gruesome assault at the hands of Brooklyn police officers. But on August 9, 1997, Louima was an unknown, young Haitian immigrant enjoying himself at an East Flatbush nightclub. By the end of the night, he was laying in a Coney Island Hospital bed with severe wounds inflicted by an officer of the law. This is Aram Roston's first report on the Louima case.

NY1 FOLLOW-UP: Louima's allegations unleashed a torrent of media attention resulting in large public demonstrations against police brutality, criminal investigations of five NYPD officers and a civil lawsuit that resulted in an $8.75 million settlement to Louima.