Disturbing bodycam footage shows the moment an NYPD officer appeared to plant marijuana on a suspect during a 2018 traffic stop. 

In the video, obtained by The Intercept, officers Kyle Erickson and Elmer Pastran were seen stopping Jason Serrano and and his friend outside a market on Staten Island in March 2018.

Erickson and Pastran, of the 120th Precinct are heard telling the driver and Serrano that they were stopped because of a broken tail light before claiming that their vehicle smelled like marijuana. 

They then tell Serrano, who was recovering from abdominal surgery after being stabbed, and the driver to exit the vehicle. 

Serrano is seen in the video hesitating to get out of the car and even lifted his shirt to show them that he had just had abdominal surgery. 

Officers Kyle Erickson (pictured) and Elmer Pastran were seen stopping Jason Serrano and his friend outside a market on Staten Island in March 2018

Erickson and Pastran, of the 120th Precinct, are heard telling the driver and Serrano (pictured in red) that they were stopped because of a broken tail light before claiming that their vehicle smelled like marijuana. They then asked them to exit the car

‘I can barely move,’ Serrano tells the officers, to which one responds: ‘I don’t want to see that.’

Once Serrano is out of the car, the officers ask to search his jacket but when the victim refuses, both cops shove him to the ground and handcuff him until an ambulance arrives to take him to the hospital. 

While waiting for the ambulance, the officers start searching the vehicle. 

Erickson is seen using a flashlight to search the front seat where Serrano had been sitting.

When he finds nothing, he is heard saying ‘f**k’ to himself. 

‘Should I search the whole thing?’ Erickson is heard asking Pastran. 

After searching the console and drink holder, the officers still find nothing. Moments later Erickson tells Pastran: ‘I see nothing. You know what I mean?’

In a matter of seconds, Erickson then appears to place something that looks like weed in the drink holder where he had already searched and found nothing. 

While waiting for the ambulance, the officers start searching the vehicle. After searching the console and drink holder, the officers still find nothing. In a matter of seconds, Erickson then appears to place something that looks like weed (small bud pictured) in the drink holder

‘I smell a little weed,’ Erickson says as he moves the bud around. ‘There’s a little bit of weed,’ he added. 

‘Good?’ Pastran asks Erickson, who tells him there appears to be flakes of weed all over Serrano’s jacket. 

When the ambulance arrives, Serrano is seen being taken away when Erickson turns to Pastran and the officers fist-bump each other. 

In the end, Serrano spent several days handcuffed to a hospital bed while he waited for his wound to heal. 

Serrano took a plea deal to avoid jail time because he didn’t learn of the footage until earlier this year when attorneys with the Legal Aid Society showed it to him, according to the Intercept. 

‘There’s nothing to say, the video speaks for itself,’ Serrano told the news outlet. 

‘I didn’t have no marijuana, I had no weed, I had no drugs, I wasn’t driving, it wasn’t my car, the taillight wasn’t broken.’

According to the Intercept, a similar incident occurred with the same officers in a separate traffic stop just weeks before Serrano was arrested. 

In that incident, body camera footage showed the officers searching the cars for several minutes and finding nothing. 

Both officers remain on patrol in Serrano’s neighborhood. 

A DailyMail.com request for comment to the NYPD was not immediately returned.