Complaint #200202369,
April 11, 2002

Officer: Spennicchia, Richard
Complainant: Black Female, 31
Allegation: Offensive Language: Other
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Bartolomeo, Lisa
Complainant: Black Female, 31
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Frisk and/or search
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Spennicchia, Richard
Complainant: Black Female, 55
Allegation: Force: Physical force
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Johnson, Lorenzo
Complainant: Hispanic Female, 33
Allegation: Discourtesy: Word
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Bartolomeo, Lisa
Complainant: Black Female, 55
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Bartolomeo, Lisa
Complainant: Male, 22
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Frisk and/or search
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Unknown Officer
Complainant: Black Female, 55-59
Allegation: Discourtesy: Word
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Unknown Officer
Complainant: Black Female, 30-34
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Strip-searched
CCRB Conclusion: Alleged Victim Uncooperative
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Conclusion
Spennicchia, Richard Black Female, 31 Offensive Language: Other Unsubstantiated
Bartolomeo, Lisa Black Female, 31 Abuse of Authority: Frisk and/or search Exonerated
Spennicchia, Richard Black Female, 55 Force: Physical force Exonerated
Johnson, Lorenzo Hispanic Female, 33 Discourtesy: Word Unsubstantiated
Bartolomeo, Lisa Black Female, 55 Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest Exonerated
Bartolomeo, Lisa Male, 22 Abuse of Authority: Frisk and/or search Exonerated
Unknown Officer Black Female, 55-59 Discourtesy: Word Exonerated
Unknown Officer Black Female, 30-34 Abuse of Authority: Strip-searched Alleged Victim Uncooperative

Conclusion Meanings:

'Exonerated': or 'Within NYPD Guidelines' - The conduct occurred but did not violate the NYPD's own rules, which often give officers significant discretion.
'Unsubstantiated': or 'Unable to Determine' - The alleged conduct was investigated but could not determine both that the conduct occurred and that it broke the rules.

Further details on conclusions.


Summary

April 11th was a nice warm day. At about 5:00 PM, [redacted] was standing with some friends across the street from her mother's housing project building at [redacted] in the Bronx. Some of [redacted]'s friends [redacted] did not know the last names of these people; she knew them as [redacted] daughter, [redacted] daughter. A neighborhood man known as '[redacted] was across the street. [redacted] were drinking alcohol. [redacted] had a beer in a paper bag in hand. She and her friends were standing next to [redacted] burgundy van. [redacted] daughter gave [redacted] a purple Easter egg about two inches high filled with candies that she had brought home from school. [redacted] placed it in her jacket pocket.
An unmarked car drove by, then backed up and stopped next to the group. [redacted] recalled three officers exiting the car: a white, blond female, subsequently identified as Sgt. Lisa Bartolomeo; a female Hispanic brunette, subsequently identified as PO Lorraine Bowden; and a white male subsequently identified as PO Richard Spennicchia. (A fourth officer was also in the unmarked car: PO Reinaldo Badillo.) The officers grabbed subsequently identified from arrest paperwork as [redacted] and searched his pockets to find a 4-inch long, rolled up marijuana cigarette (Allegation A). They asked him where "the rest of it" was. [redacted] bent down into the van and placed the beer on the floor of the van. A female officer grabbed [redacted] and checked inside her pockets (Allegation B). The female officer found the plastic egg, said, "We got her, we got her" and without opening it, placed it back inside [redacted]'s pocket. [redacted] did not want to give her arms to be handcuffed; she did not know why she was being arrested.
[redacted] saw her mother, [redacted] approaching from across the street yelling, "What's going on?" The officers told her to "shut the hell up" (and [redacted] whose statement is below, said an officer told her to "move the fuck back" Allegation C). There was a big crowd around the officers, a... Read report for details.


Details

Incident: April 11, 2002
Closed: June 12, 2003

Reason for contact: Other
Location: Street/highway
In NYPD 40th Precinct Bronx
Outcome: Arrest - other violation/crime

Witness Officers: Reinaldo Badillo, Lorraine Bowden, Eileen Treanor