Complaint #200104702,
June 25, 2001

Summary

He stated that on June 25, 2001, at approximately 7:30 p.m., he was pulled over by two police officers on Beach 20th St. off Mott St. in Far Rockaway, Queens. He was driving a dark blue Mercedes Benz SUV and had just turned right onto Beach 20th St. when Lt. Barreto and PO Torres emerged from their vehicle, which was parked in front and to the right of him, and approached his vehicle. Beach 20th St. is very narrow, and has only one driving lane and one parking lane. The officers stood in the middle of the street and shouted for [redacted] to stop, which he did. As they approached his driver's side front window, Lt. Barreto asked for his driver's license and insurance card. [redacted] provided the paperwork and asked the officers why they had stopped him. They told him that it was a police checkpoint, but [redacted] saw no flares, cones, barriers, other police vehicles, or anything else to indicate to him that the officers were being truthful and that there was indeed a checkpoint in place. [redacted] stated that he felt he was being singled out for racial profiling, because he was a black man driving an expensive vehicle through a neighborhood known for drug problems. He also acknowledged that his vehicle is rare in the neighborhood and tends to attract attention.
The two officers examined the paperwork [redacted] had given them, and Lt. Barreto began to question him about who owned the vehicle and whether or not the owner knew that he was driving it. [redacted] informed the officers that since all of his information was in order and he was in lawful possession of the vehicle, he did not want to answer any further questions. He stated in his interview that the car was registered in his cousin's name, but that he and his wife were listed on the insurance as authorized drivers and the license plates were registered to them. Lt. Barreto stated, "I can stop anybody I want to stop, and I stopped you." [redacted] informed the officers that he was going to pull over into the parking lane behind their police vehicle.... Read report for details.