Complaint #201805989,
July 11, 2018

Summary

On July 11, 2018, at approximately 9:30 p.m., [redacted] was pulled over in his white four-door Jaguar XF at the intersection of 154th Street and Shore Avenue in Queens, by Sergeant Justin Ellis and Police Officer Gregory Gromling, both of the 103rd Precinct (Allegation A: Abuse of authority – Vehicle stop, [redacted]). During the stop, [redacted] informed Sgt. Ellis that he was a peace officer with [redacted]; after which, Sgt. Ellis asked [redacted] if he had a firearm in the vehicle (Allegation B: Abuse of authority – Question, [redacted]). Minutes after being stopped and presenting his [redacted] identification card, [redacted] was allowed to leave without being issued a summons.
On July 12, 2018, at approximately 11:30 p.m., [redacted] was pulled over once again in his same vehicle at the intersection of Sutphin Boulevard and Arlington Terrace in Queens, by Police Officer Gregory Gromling and Police Officer Michael Boudouris, also of the 103rd Precinct (Allegations C and D: Abuse of authority – Vehicle stop, [redacted]). Shortly after, Sgt. Ellis and Police Officer Daniel Ward arrived at the location as back up. During the stop, Sgt. Ellis allegedly asked [redacted] about a gun charge that was on his arrest history (Allegation E: Abuse of authority – Question, [redacted]). Sgt. Ellis ultimately searched [redacted] vehicle, after allegedly telling him that he would be arrested if he did not exit the vehicle (Allegation F: Abuse of Authority – Threat of Arrest, [redacted]) (Allegation G: Abuse of Authority - Vehicle search, [redacted]). After the search of the vehicle, [redacted] was once again released without being issued a summons. Read report for details.