Prospect Park alleged police sodomy incident
The NYPD subway sodomy incident refers to the circumstances surrounding the October 15, 2008 arrest of Michael Mineo by New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers. According to Mineo, the arresting police officers pinned Mineo to the ground, while Richard Kern, one of the officers, pulled down Mineo's pants and sodomized him with a police baton. On December 9, 2008, the Brooklyn District Attorney indicted the three arresting officers and charged them with felonies.[1][2] Richard Kern was charged with aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree, assault in the first degree, and hindering prosecution.[1][2] Two other officers, Andrew Morales and Alex Cruz, were charged with hindering prosecution and official misconduct. The officers have pled not guilty.[1][2]
Background
Michael Mineo
Michael Mineo was born c.1984[3] in either the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York[3] or in Dallas, Texas.[4] He is Italian-Puerto Rican.[4] Both of his parents died of drug overdoses when he was around eleven years old.[4] He then moved in with his mother's parents, but they both died by the time he was fourteen.[4] He then moved in with an aunt by marriage and her husband who lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.[4]
In the fall of 2003, Mineo stole his friends mother's credit cards and placed more than $6,000 on the card.[4] During that time, he left for New York City; soon thereafter he was arrested on marijuana possession and was found to be carrying the stolen credit cards.[4]
Richard Kern
In 2007, New York City paid out $50,000 to settle two excessive force lawsuits filed against Richard Kern.[5] However, the Civilian Complaint Review Board cleared him of wrongdoing and Kern says the excessive force claims were a "complete lie."[6]
Incident
On October 15, 2008, Michael Mineo was smoking a marijuana joint outside the Prospect Park train station located in the Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.[4][2] When approached by police officers, Mineo ran into the train station, jumped the turnstile, but was caught and handcuffed near the token booth.[2] According to the officers, they found no drugs on him, issued him a summons for disorderly conduct, and let him go.[6] According to prosecutors and Mineo, after he was handcuffed and pinned down, Richard Kern pulled down his pants and shoved a baton up his anus.[7] On October 23rd, Mineo's attorneys announced the incident and noted that they planned to file a lawsuit against New York City on Mineo's behalf.[8]
Parallels to Abner Louima
This case has drawn parallels to a similar set of circumstances that took place in August of 1997, in which NYPD officers assaulted and forcibly sodomized Abner Louima with a broken broomstick after he was arrested.[9] However, there are differences between the Louima and Mineo situations.[10] Louima was black and his 1997 police attackers were white whereas Mineo is described as white and Hispanic and the 2008 involved police officers are white, black and Hispanic.[10] Louima had no criminal record at the time he was assaulted in a bathroom in a police station house whereas Mineo had been arrested several times prior to the asserted sodomization in public near a subway information booth.[10]
Criticism of NYPD
The NYPD was criticized for not taking Mineo's claims seriously.[1] The accused officers were kept on regular patrol duty for two and half weeks after the incident.[11] The police maintain that they aggressivly located records, reviewed hours of videotape, examinined MetroCard records, and retained equipment for DNA testing.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Robbins, Liz (2008-12-09). "Three Officers Charged in Brooklyn Assault". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
- ^ a b c d e "Three NYPD cops charged in subway assault of Michael Mineo". Daily News. 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
- ^ a b "Raised alleged victim of police assault Michael Mineo after his parents & grandparents died". Daily News. 2008-11-09. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e f g h "Before Alleged Assault, a Life of Loss and Missteps". New York Times. 2008-11-08. p. 3. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
- ^ "NYPD Tort Claims; The city has already paid millions to settle excessive force claims against Officer Kern, indicted for sodomizing Michael Mineo". WNYC. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
- ^ a b Hauser, Christine (2008-11-22). "Officer Accused of Brutality Says He Did Nothing Wrong". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
- ^ Hays, Tom (2008-12-10). "3 NYPD officers charged in subway sodomy case". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
- ^ Long, Colleen (October 23, 2008). "Man says NYPD assaulted him; cops deny claim". Associated Press.
A man claims a group of police officers beat and sodomized him with a walkie-talkie in a subway station, then wrote him a ticket and abandoned him there writhing in pain.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Buckley, Cara (2008-10-26). "Shades of the Louima Case in a New Claim of Abuse, With Differences". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
- ^ a b c Barnard, Anne (October 25, 2008). "In Case of Man Alleging Brutality, Many Conflicting Claims". New York Times. pp. A17. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
{{cite news}}:|section=ignored (help) - ^ Baker, Al (2008-12-09). "Police Say Internal Affairs Did Its Part in Subway Inquiry". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
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