{"active":false,"first_name":"John","last_name":"Oconnell","race":"White","gender":"Male","rank":"DC","command":{"command":"CTERRDV","assignment_date":"2016-04-18","id":"316"},"ended_date":"2024-01-02","taxid":"893465","complaint_ids":[201204823,9500605,9404707,9403298,9402351,9202749],"command_history":[{"command":"DC C TR"}],"appt_date":"1987-07-28","middle_initial":"P","shield_no_history":[17194,1566],"lawsuits":[{"name":"Cruz, David vs City of Ny, et al.","start_date":"2021-09-02","disposition_date":"2024-10-22","payout_amount":42500,"disposition":"Settlement","docket":"158098/2021","court":"Supreme Court - New York","summary":"Shortly after midnight on June 1, 2020, Mr. Cruz and Ms. Tavarez were walking\nNorth on Broadway through SoHo after attending a Black Lives Matter Protest.  Mr. Cruz and Ms. Tavarez passed a drug store on Broadway and 4th Street with a broken front glass door. Mr. Cruz went into the store. While inside the store, Mr. Cruz heard Ms. Tavarez scream. He quickly left the store and, as he was leaving, seeing individuals in dark clothes rushing towards him. Plaintiff did not know the individuals were police officers. They did not identify themselves. After a few steps, Mr. Cruz quickly saw another group of individuals blocking his way. In this second group, he saw individuals on horseback and in riot gear and realized police were chasing him. The first officer to reach Mr. Cruz struck him on the head with a riot shield. Another officer then tackled Mr. Cruz to the ground. When Mr. Cruz fell, he was knocked unconscious. When Mr. Cruz regained consciousness, he was lying on the ground, handcuffed, and surrounded by officers beating him. \n\nEventually, the officers stopped beating him to interrogate him. Plaintiff was in intense pain and requested medical assistance. The officers refused, told him to be quiet, and ignored his injuries and complaints. Ms. Tavarez had used her cell phone to record the assault while it was happening, as well as Mr. Cruz’s condition after the fact. Officers approached her in a threatening manner, told her not to record. At no point was Mr. Cruz told he was under arrest. The officers who participated and/or observed include defendants Cherry, O’Connell, Montesdeoca, Kim, and  Morales. Mr. Cruz was taken into custody in a police van, which drove him to a precinct. While at the precinct, Mr. Cruz was subjected to an invasive pat-down search during which the searching officer, Defendant Matos, gratuitously and offensively handled his genitals. Throughout the process, multiple officers, including Defendant Matos, taunted Mr. Cruz and bragged that they could mistreat him without consequence. The officers cut parts of his clothes rather than confiscate them. Defendant Matos cut the drawstring of his hooded sweatshirt and, in doing so, quickly and threateningly brought a knife close to Plaintiff’s neck. Defendants Lee and Mendez observed and failed to intervene in these acts. Plaintiff continued to ask for medical treatment. Defendants refused any assistance and told him to shut up.  Mr. Cruz received no medical treatment the entire time he was held at the precinct.\n\nOn June 1, 2020, he was transferred to Central Booking. During intake, he was subjected to an even more invasive cavity search in which his anus was roughly penetrated by an officer’s hand. Officers also actively prevented Mr. Cruz from getting treatment from the medical staff during intake. The officers who mistreated Mr. Cruz at Central Booking included Officer Amir. After approximately 10 hours at Central Booking, other arrestees told officers that Plaintiff needed medical help. Plaintiff was examined by an EMT. He remained in custody but in a different cell. After sleeping for a short time, he was abruptly awoken by a horrible smell. He\nthen realized the new cell in which he had been placed had feces smeared on the walls. Mr. Cruz asked the police to transfer him back to the first cell, but they refused. In or around the afternoon of June 2, 2022, after approximately 30–40 hours in custody, Mr. Cruz was finally brought to court. The judge ordered that he be released on his own recognizance. \n\nShortly after he returned home, Police officers showed up,  looking for a girl who had gone missing in the last day. he told them he had been in police custody and therefore hadn't seen her. he asked if they had a warrant. they did not. They then asked if his name was David Cruz. when he said that it was. They said they did not need a warrant, they had probable cause. they began to search the apartment. when Plaintiffs mother came out of the back room. the officers gave her the same explanation that they gave plaintiff. to which she said they had nothing to do with it. they claimed it was their mistake and left. In the days after the incident,  Ms. Tavarez received multiple phone calls from individuals identifying themselves as NYPD officers demanding she destroy the video. Eventually, she was so scared she deleted the video.","documents":[{"url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20240722200141/https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=iRc_PLUS_6LRSlskSt2tEm14kaA==","type":"complaint"}]},{"name":"Marlin, Jason vs City of New York, et al.","start_date":"2015-06-10","disposition_date":"2017-06-30","payout_amount":125000,"disposition":"Settlement","docket":"15CV02235","court":"U.S. District Court - Southern District NY","officer_name":"O'Connell, John P.","summary":"The plaintiff was participating in a peaceful demonstration when officers including Bastia, Morrin, and McNichol, under the command of defendants O'Connel, D'addario, and other supervisors, organized into a disorder control formation and pushed people, including the plaintiff, at the south end of the park. They gave no adequate notice to move before officers forcibly pushed the group. The woman next to the plaintiff was yelling and was arrested. Due to his close proximity, the plaintiff was grabbed too and violently dragged through several lines of police and facedown on the ground. He was tightly handcuffed and his arm was injured severely in the process. He was taken to the hospital. Then he was taken to 100 Centre Street and put in \"specials\" cells. He was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration in the second degree.","documents":[{"url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.440061/gov.uscourts.nysd.440061.30.0.pdf","type":"complaint"},{"url":"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4920601-Marlin-v-The-City-of-New-York-et-al"}],"url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4523078/marlin-v-the-city-of-new-york/"},{"name":"Martinez, Anthony vs City of New York, et al.","start_date":"2015-01-30","disposition_date":"2016-01-12","payout_amount":34000,"disposition":"Settlement","docket":"14CV08686","court":"U.S. District Court - Southern District NY","officer_name":"O'Connell, John P.","summary":"On November 15, 2011, at approximately 4:20 am, plaintiff Anthony Martinez was in the vicinity of Zucotti Park to record with his video camera the eviction of Occupy Wall Street protesters by the NYPD.  While filming the aggressive and violent behavior of the NYPD towards the protesters, Inspector John O'Connell instructed Mr. Martinez - who is 5'2 and 125 pounds - to go to the sidewalk, which would have prevented Mr. Martinez from filming the interaction between the NYPD and the protesters. When Mr. Martinez asked Inspector O'Connell why he was pushing around the pedestrians in the vicinity, Inspector O'Connell grabbed Mr. Martinez, causing his camera to shut off, and began assaulting Mr. Martinez.  As Mr. Martinez attempted to walk away, Inspector O'Connell seized him from behind and began to beat him. In addition to Inspector O'Connell, several members of the NYPD jumped on Mr. Martinez and threw him to the ground into a pile of garbage, pressing their knees into his back, punching him in the face numerous times, and striking him in the head and body with batons.  Inspector O'Connell and the other officers handcuffed plaintiff with plastic 'flexcuffs' so tightly that Mr. Martinez's hands turned purple.  Mr. Martinez requested medical attention for his injuries, but his requests were ignored for some time before he was taken to the hospital.  \n\nMr. Martinez was charged with Resisting Arrest and Disorderly Conduct, on the basis of Officer Matthew Kwiecinski's, and Inspector O'Connell's, false allegations that (a) Mr. Martinez was preventing pedestrians from using the sidewalk, (b) Mr. Martinez was ordered five times to disperse and refused to comply, and (c) that when Inspector O'Connell attempted to place Mr. Martinez under arrest, Mr. Martinez flailed his arms and legs and refused to place his hands behind his back.  All of these allegations were false.","documents":[{"url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.434466/gov.uscourts.nysd.434466.10.0.pdf","type":"complaint"}],"url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/13245694/martinez-v-the-city-of-new-york/"},{"name":"Tardif v. City of New York et al","court":"U.S. District Court - Southern District NY","documents":[{"url":"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4919879-Tardif-v-City-of-New-York-et-al"}],"docket":"13CV04056","officer_name":"John P. Oconnell"}],"id":"K97G","url":"https://www.50-a.org/officer/K97G"}