Complaint #200307456,
September 19, 2003

Officer: Lee, James
Allegation: Force: Physical force
CCRB Conclusion: Unfounded
Officer: Lee, James
Complainant: Hispanic Male, 34
Allegation: Force: Chokehold
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Conclusion
Lee, James Force: Physical force Unfounded
Lee, James Hispanic Male, 34 Force: Chokehold Unsubstantiated

Conclusion Meanings:

'Unfounded': Evidence suggests that the event or alleged conduct did not occur.
'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

[redacted] was arrested for driving while intoxicated on September 19, 2003. During his arrest processing during the early morning hours of September 20, 2003 at the 108th Precinct, the arresting officer, PO James Lee informed Sergeant Mary Colgan, the desk officer, that [redacted] has accused him of choking him. Sergeant Colgan interviewed [redacted] and prepared a report indicating that [redacted] stated that PO Lee "caused the mark around his neck by choking him" (enclosure 4). Queens Patrol Borough Duty Captain, Rajiv Khurana were notified of the incident.
Captain Khurana and Lieutenant Charles Barton responded to the 108th Precinct stationhouse and interviewed [redacted] regarding his allegation. The results of that interview indicate that [redacted] had difficulty in explaining the exact details of the incident to the interviewer, Lieutenant Barton, stating that his English is not fluent. Nevertheless, [redacted] told Lieutenant Barton that PO Lee punched him on his back in placing him into the patrol car. Then while transporting him to the 108th Precinct stationhouse, PO Lee changed seats with his female partner, who was initially driving the patrol car, drove for another 15 minutes or more to an unknown location where he put his hands around [redacted]'s neck, causing a red mark to his neck. The Internal Affairs officers photographed the injury (see enclosures 4A – 4F).
[redacted] a [redacted]-old [redacted], was interviewed at the CCRB on September 30, 2003. During his interview, [redacted] stated that on September 19, 2003, upon leaving his job in Manhattan at 7 p.m., he and his friend, [redacted] went to a bar in Queens where they purchased and consumed one beer each. [redacted] stated that he placed the empty beer bottle on the floor of his vehicle then started to drive [redacted] to his home. [redacted] stopped for a red light in the vicinity of 48th Avenue and 43rd Street in Queens. Upon the light change, as [redacted] shifted the manual gears of his car and it rolled backwards, bumping into a... Read report for details.


Details

Incident: September 19, 2003
Received: September 24, 2003
Closed: June 14, 2004

Reason for contact: Other
Location: Other
In NYPD 108th Precinct Queens
Outcome: No arrest made or summons issued

Witness Officers: Carlos Rivera, John Senese, Scott Stelmok, Kenneth Yule, Carolyn Zadwydas