Complaint #200200889,
February 3, 2002

Summary

At 5:00 AM on January 3rd, 2002, he took a taxi to his home in East Elmhurst from Manhattan, where he had been drinking until approximately 2:00 AM. He was not overtly intoxicated but could not give the specifics of his alcohol ingestion. He lives on [redacted] and, because of the direction of traffic, he had to be dropped off at the corner of Northern Boulevard and 101st Street. On the corner opposite him, he observed a black undercover vehicle. He was walking towards his home at [redacted] when suddenly two officers in plainclothes jumped out of the black car. They approached him and immediately put him up against the hood of their vehicle and handcuffed him. One of them put something hard up against his ribs. One of them stated that they "saw [him] with [his] eyes on that truck." He could not distinguish between the two men, it was dark and both were white males with black hair.
The officers proceeded to ask him why he was inside a certain vehicle. He believes they meant a blue truck that was parked near their black vehicle but he is not sure. They mentioned in court that the car he was alleged to have broken into was a 1992 Blazer. The truck had not been broken into, that he could see. At one point, in response to their questioning, he stated that he "must have seen something he liked." The officers took this as a confession, although he meant it sarcastically. The statement is something they reiterated at his court appearance. He told the officers that he was innocent and even told them that his own car, an Eagle Talon, was parked on that very street. Fearing further harassment, however, he did not tell them which car was his or that he lived on [redacted] at all. Read report for details.