bainer:

Original Caption:

26 Aug 1959, Manhattan, New York, New York: Musician Arrested. West 54th Street Station House—18th Precinct.

Photo #1: Miles Davis, 32, of 881 10th Avenue, a trumpeter now appearing in Birdland, 52nd Street and Broadway, was arrested after fighting with patrolman Gerald Kilduff, who had ordered him to move from crowded sidewalk. In the scuffle, Davis was hit on the head with a blackjack for which a St. Clare’s ambulance had to be called.

Photo #2: Jazzman Miles Davis rides in an ambulance to St. Clare’s Hospital with Patrolman Gerald Kilduff. Davis was given ten stitches in his scalp at the hospital. He was standing outside the jazz club Birdland, where he was performing, when Kilduff told him to move along. A scuffle ensued, and a passing plainclothes detective hit Davis with his blackjack, dropping him to the ground. Davis was charged with disorderly conduct and assault. His arrest was later ruled illegal and a “travesty of justice” by a three-judge panel.