| Officer: | Velez, Carlos |
|---|---|
| Complainant: | Hispanic Male, 54 |
| Allegation: | Discourtesy: Word |
| CCRB Conclusion: | Unsubstantiated |
| Officer: | Velez, Carlos |
| Complainant: | Hispanic Male, 54 |
| Allegation: | Abuse of Authority: Search (of person) |
| CCRB Conclusion: | Substantiated (Command Discipline A) |
| Officer: | Nunez, Ricardo |
| Complainant: | Hispanic Male, 54 |
| Allegation: | Abuse of Authority: Question |
| CCRB Conclusion: | Substantiated (Command Discipline A) |
| NYPD Disposition: | No Disciplinary Action-DUP |
| Officer: | Nunez, Ricardo |
| Complainant: | Hispanic Male, 54 |
| Allegation: | Abuse of Authority: Search (of person) |
| CCRB Conclusion: | Substantiated (Command Discipline A) |
| NYPD Disposition: | Command Discipline - A |
| Officer: | Singh, Khamraj |
| Complainant: | Hispanic Male, 54 |
| Allegation: | Abuse of Authority: Stop |
| CCRB Conclusion: | Substantiated (Command Discipline A) |
| Officer | Complainant | Allegation | CCRB Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Velez, Carlos | Hispanic Male, 54 | Discourtesy: Word | Unsubstantiated |
| Velez, Carlos | Hispanic Male, 54 | Abuse of Authority: Search (of person) | Substantiated (Command Discipline A) |
| Nunez, Ricardo | Hispanic Male, 54 | Abuse of Authority: Question | Substantiated (Command Discipline A) |
| NYPD Disposition: No Disciplinary Action-DUP | |||
| Nunez, Ricardo | Hispanic Male, 54 | Abuse of Authority: Search (of person) | Substantiated (Command Discipline A) |
| NYPD Disposition: Command Discipline - A | |||
| Singh, Khamraj | Hispanic Male, 54 | Abuse of Authority: Stop | Substantiated (Command Discipline A) |
Further details on conclusions.
At 9:45 on a weekday morning in Brooklyn, a man was walking from the subway to a clinic where he
participates in a rehabilitation program. Four NYPD officers, including Detective Carlos Velez,
Detective Ricardo Nunez, Sergeant Khamraj Singh, and Detective Danny Rodriguez, stopped and
searched the man. Detective Velez had known the man for some time; he had previously arrested
the man and the man has an open civil suit against Detective Velez. The man stated that ever since
he sued Detective Velez the detective has targeted him. The officers searched the man's pockets,
removing his wallet and a packet of cigarettes. They also examined the man's cane.
The CCRB investigator obtained security camera footage of the incident from a nearby building.
Before seeing the security camera footage, the officers provided varying accounts of the incident
that did not corroborate each other and which were contradicted by the video recording. Detective
Velez stated that he received a call earlier in the morning that the man had purchased narcotics.
Detective Nunez said that Detective Velez had used binoculars to observe the man snorting drugs.
Detective Singh stated that another officer had seen the man snort drugs. Detective Rodriguez
denied being at the encounter at all.
Detective Nunez, who searched the man's pockets, insisted that he had only conducted a pat-down
and had not searched the man's pockets until shown the video demonstrating that he did search the
man.
The stop and frisk form relating to the incident was not prepared until six weeks after the incident,
after one officer had already been interviewed. Detective Singh stated that he had signed the form,
prepared by Detective Nunez, after he returned from a vacation, but he had not left on the vacation
for over a month after the incident had taken place.
The CCRB found that the officers had improperly stopped and searched the man, and that they had
failed to prepare required paperwork. It further found that Detective Nunez had lied when he said
he didn't search...
Read report for details.