Complaint #200906576,
April 24, 2009

Officer: Morello, Chris
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Premises entered and/or searched
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer Allegation CCRB Conclusion
Morello, Chris Abuse of Authority: Premises entered and/or searched Exonerated

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.

Further details on conclusions.


Summary

On April 24, 2009, at approximately 6:05 AM, [redacted] was at his friend's, [redacted] residence located at Apartments of [redacted] in Queens. [redacted] was lying naked on the couch and [redacted] was sleeping in the bedroom. Approximately five plainclothes officers broke the door down and entered the apartment. The officers told [redacted] to get down on the floor and he began to do so. As [redacted] was getting down on the floor, an officer rushed toward [redacted] and used his bunker shield to push [redacted]s back so that he fell to the floor. [redacted] was handcuffed and escorted to the couch, where his clothes were located. As [redacted] began to get dressed, the officers asked him if he had anything in the house the officers should know about. [redacted] said, "The only thing I have is marihuana in my pocket," referring to the pants he was about to put on, and produced 30-35 small plastic bags of marihuana that weighed approximately 0.5 ounces in total, evenly divided into each bag. [redacted] was also asked if there were guns in the apartment. [redacted] denied having anything else in the apartment, and nothing else of interest was recovered.
Meanwhile, two female officers were with [redacted] in the bedroom. From where he was sitting, [redacted] could see directly through the bedroom door and saw [redacted] and one of the female officers clearly. [redacted] heard [redacted] ask, "Do you all have a warrant?" However, once asked if [redacted] asked if she could see the warrant, [redacted] stated that he heard her say, "Do you have a warrant? Can I see the warrant?" The female officer did not answer her and did not show her any paperwork.
Neither [redacted] nor [redacted] sustained any injuries. [redacted] and [redacted] were arrested and charged with a violation, though [redacted] could not specify which violation. When [redacted] and [redacted] returned, they saw that the apartment was searched, which [redacted] determined because all of the closets and drawers were emptied and its contents were on... Read report for details.


Details

Incident: April 24, 2009
Received: April 29, 2009
Closed: September 2, 2009

Reason for contact: Execution of search warrant
Location: Apartment/house
In NYPD 114th Precinct Queens
Outcome: Arrest - other violation/crime