Complaint #201703007,
April 17, 2017

Officer: Sotira, Joseph
Complainant: Black Male, 43
Allegation: Discourtesy: Word
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Sotira, Joseph
Complainant: Black Male, 43
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Vehicle search
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Formalized Training)
Officer: Sotira, Joseph
Complainant: Black Male, 43
Allegation: Discourtesy: Word
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Conclusion
Sotira, Joseph Black Male, 43 Discourtesy: Word Unsubstantiated
Sotira, Joseph Black Male, 43 Abuse of Authority: Vehicle search Substantiated (Formalized Training)
Sotira, Joseph Black Male, 43 Discourtesy: Word 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.


Penalty

Sotira, Joseph
Formalized Training

Summary

On April 17, 2017, at approximately 3:30 a.m., [redacted] was driving his Cadillac Escalade in the vicinity of 101st Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard in Queens when he was pulled over by Police Officer Joseph Sotira and Police Officer Christopher Scheer, both of the 102nd Precinct, for illegal window tints. PO Scheer measured [redacted]'s tints and determined they were beyond the legal limit. PO Sotira allegedly said to [redacted] "Give me the fucking registration" (Allegation A). [redacted] produced his documentation, but told the officers that he only had a temporary registration as the car was new. PO Sotira shined his flashlight into the rear passenger side, and leaned into the vehicle beyond the threshold of the doorway (Allegation B). [redacted] told PO Sotira and PO Scheer that he recognized them from a previous incident, and that they did not need to use that against him. PO Sotira allegedly replied, "Shut the fuck up" (Allegation C). PO Scheer and PO Sotira returned to their vehicle and PO Scheer wrote [redacted] a summons for his front driver side window tint. PO Scheer and PO Sotira returned to [redacted] PO Scheer issued him the summons, and PO Sotira allegedly told [redacted] to "get the fuck out of here" (Allegation C continued). PO Scheer and PO Sotira returned to their vehicle and left. Read report for details.


Details

Incident: April 17, 2017
Received: April 18, 2017
Closed: September 13, 2017

Reason for contact: Other violation of VTL
Location: Street/highway
In NYPD 102nd Precinct Queens
Outcome: Other VTL violation summons issued

Witness Officers: Christopher Scheer
Video evidence collected