Analyze

"The violence broke out when the patient spit at the Emergency Service Unit officers and swore at them. The officers responded by hitting him in the face, hauling him off the stretcher to the ground and then tossing him back on the stretcher, the EMTs said in written statements submitted to the FDNY."

""Three cops began to punch the patient in the face, EMS (had) to get in the middle of it to intervene. Pt's. wounds and injuries cleaned in the (ambulance)," the report said"

FDNY- the fire department for New York City. Their EMTs were the witnesses of the incident

Patient - confused and emotionally disturbed; spitted and swore at them

NYPD- four of their officers beat a patient who became combative

The article is a report on an occurence where two EMTs witnessed four NYPD officers beat a patient on the stretcher. The author supports the story with quotes from the report written by the EMTs. 

I'd assume the author, Tina Moore, received the information from the FDNY and NYPD reports mentioned in the article.