NYPD cop takes cash from a man, illegally? One of New York’s finest, an NYPD officer, stands accused of thieving a wad of cash – approximately $1,300 – from a man during a “stop and frisk” routine, then blasting the man and his sister in the face with pepper spray when they complained that they were being robbed. Writes abc7 on Oct. 9: “Did a New York police officer take cash right out of a mans pocket? The Brooklyn District Attorney has video of the incident in question and hes investigating. In the video, keep an eye on the right hand of the police officer, which goes into Lenard Joyes sweater pocket and comes out with what Joye claims is a wad of cash, which the police officer does not give back.” The 30-second video, taken on Sept. 16 at approximately 12:30 a.m., shows the unidentified cop shoving Joye, with his arms upstretched, against a fence bordering a basketball court at the Surfside Gardens housing project in Coney Island. Video of the incident has been turned over to Brooklyn District Attorneys office and Internal Affairs. “Why you gonna take my money?” Joye says in the recording. The officer does not respond, instead blasting Joye in the face with pepper spray. When his sister tries to identify the officer and calls for others to “get his badge number,” she gets a face full as well. Another witness yells, “That’s robbery man.” “It seems like its a strong-arm robbery, that they took his money, and then when he asked for it back, they maced him in the face,” said Robert Marinelli, Joyes attorney. “Mr. Joye works full time, he has proof of where all that money came from, pays taxes, seemingly robbed by a member of the NYPD.” While the NYPD has not responded, the Police Benevolent Association said in a statement: “A 35-second long video does not provide enough information about a police encounter to come to any conclusion,” adding that it’s “time to stop the amateur video activists who interfere with police operations.” Marinelli said other officers stood by, watched the unnamed officer rob his client, and did nothing. “Theres one officer standing right next to him and at the end of the video you can see four or five officers just standing on the side and not taking any action,” Marinelli said. Joys says the money was never returned. He was not arrested or cited for any wrongdoing. Instead, he was made subject to New York City’s controversial Stop and Frisk program – a legal stopping of pedestrians and subjecting them to random frisks for contraband. “I believe that this officer made an assumption that any money Mr. Joye possessed was obtained illegally and therefore he would not report the theft. This assumption was wrong. Mr. Joye is a hardworking taxpayer deserving respect,” said Marinelli. According to Marinelli, prior to the video starting, Joye said to the cop, “Are you going to do to me what you did to the guy in Staten Island?” – a reference to Eric Garner, who died after a NYC officer placed him in an illegal chokehold. It’s unclear from the video what caused the officer to frisk Joye. Marinelli said Joye and his friends saw cops roughing up another black man, prompting them to intervene. Chokehold lawsuit: Family of man who died in police chokehold will sue NYPD “I went to get his badge number and name,” Lateefah Joye said. “I leaned over to see his badge. He pushed me away. I saw a two and a one and that’s when he pepper-sprayed me in my mouth and my whole face.” Joye, a construction worker, had withdrawn the cash from his account. Marinelli said they have provided paystubs and the withdrawal slip to the DA’s office to prove that the money was in legal possession of Joye’s.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:20:31 +0000
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