Complaint #200514651,
December 4, 2005

Summary

On December 4, 2005 at approximately 1:45 a.m., [redacted] was returning from Red Lobster in the Gateway Mall. He had been at the restaurant for about an hour and left at 11:30 p.m. He had eaten dinner with two of his friends, [redacted] and '[redacted] whose last name he did not know. They did not have anything to drink with dinner. After leaving the restaurant, they remained in the parking lot for approximately 30-45 minutes talking. At approximately 1 a.m. the three individuals left the location in two separate cars. [redacted] was driving a black Dodge Neon, NY plate [redacted] was driving the other car, a white Honda Civic, with [redacted] in the passenger seat. They drove out of the mall and proceeded for approximately a quarter of a mile down a curvy road before they arrived at Flatlands Avenue. [redacted] drew a map to indicate these relative positions. He explained that they were not driving erratically and were observing all traffic regulations. When he was stopped at the intersection, there were two cars in front of [redacted] a white Lexus GS300 and a Honda CRV, [redacted] and [redacted] were in the car to his left and there were approximately four cars behind them at the light. [redacted] observed a police van driving towards them down Fountain Avenue, at which time [redacted] observed several cars behind his turn around and drive the opposite direction down Flatlands Avenue. They were stopped at a streetlight at the corner of Flatlands and Fountain for approximately 30 seconds when the marked police van stopped in the intersection, blocking the forward progress of the cars.
When the police van stopped in front of him, five uniformed officers immediately exited. PO1 was a light skinned black male with a slim build. He had short hair, was clean cut, and was the driver of the van. PO3 was a Hispanic male. PO1 and PO3 walked down the middle of the row of cars instructing the drivers to turn off their engines. PO2 was a short Hispanic male with a heavy build, who [redacted] identified as a sergeant... Read report for details.