Complaint #200301790,
March 8, 2003

Officer: Matthew, Joseph
Complainant: Black Male, 40
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Question and/or stop
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Charges)
Officer: Collora, Joseph
Complainant: Black Male, 40
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Threat of force (verbal or physical)
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Collora, Joseph
Complainant: Black Male, 40
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Collora, Joseph
Complainant: Black Male, 40
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Frisk and/or search
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Charges)
Officer: Chen, Darryl
Complainant: Male, 41
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Frisk and/or search
CCRB Conclusion: Alleged Victim Unavailable
Officer: Collora, Joseph
Complainant: Black Male, 40
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Other
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Conclusion
Matthew, Joseph Black Male, 40 Abuse of Authority: Question and/or stop Substantiated (Charges)
Collora, Joseph Black Male, 40 Abuse of Authority: Threat of force (verbal or physical) Unsubstantiated
Collora, Joseph Black Male, 40 Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest Unsubstantiated
Collora, Joseph Black Male, 40 Abuse of Authority: Frisk and/or search Substantiated (Charges)
Chen, Darryl Male, 41 Abuse of Authority: Frisk and/or search Alleged Victim Unavailable
Collora, Joseph Black Male, 40 Abuse of Authority: Other Unsubstantiated

Conclusion Meanings:

'Substantiated': The misconduct occurred and it violated the rules. The NYPD has discretion over what, if any, discipline is imposed.
'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

On March 7, 2003 at 12:30 AM, [redacted] sat on the steps to [redacted] with his friend [redacted] when an unmarked Crown Victoria with three plainclothes officers drove the wrong way up the one way street and stopped in front of [redacted]. Sergeant Matthew, Officer Chen and Officer Collora exited the vehicle and instructed a male and female who were out on the [redacted] floor fire escape of the building to go inside as "the fire escape is only for fires." [redacted] recognized these officers as a team that stops and questions him and his friends on a regular basis.
The officers approached [redacted] and [redacted] and asked if they lived at this address and why they were waiting on the steps. [redacted] told Officer Chen that he, the officer, knew where the complainant lived. [redacted] told the officers that they had just been sitting and talking. The officers asked the men to stand up and proceeded to go into their pockets without first patting down the pockets or frisking them in any other manner. Officer Collora searched [redacted] as Officer Chen searched [redacted]. Officer Collora took a set of keys out of [redacted]'s left pants pockets as well as his cell phone leaving a second set of keys inside the pocket. [redacted] had money in his right pant pocket that also was not removed. [redacted] did not know where the officer placed his cell phone when it was taken out of his pocket. He asked Officer Collora for his cell phone and the officer replied as though he was being accused of stealing the cell phone. The officer said he'd "slap [redacted] in the face". The officer then indicated that the cell phone was in the front pocket of [redacted]'s hooded sweatshirt. [redacted] did not notice when the officer placed the cell phone in his pocket. Officer Chen and Officer Collora then went into the lobby of the apartment building that [redacted] had been sitting in front of. The officers looked into the garbage cans and around the mailboxes inside the vestibule area of the building. No contraband was found.... Read report for details.


Details

Incident: March 8, 2003
Received: March 10, 2003
Closed: July 15, 2004

Reason for contact: Report-possession/sale of narcotics
Location: Street/highway
In NYPD 77th Precinct Brooklyn
Outcome: No arrest made or summons issued