Complaint #201900349,
December 31, 2018

Summary

On December 31, 2018, at approximately 1:08 a.m., at the intersection of West 207th Street and Vermilyea Avenue in Manhattan, PO Errol Murphy and PO Steven Oquendo, both of SRG 1, pulled over the car, rented by [redacted] in which [redacted] and [redacted] were occupants because [redacted] was not wearing his seatbelt and because the car only had one dealer plate on the back of the vehicle and no plate on the front. PO Oquendo frisked [redacted] (Allegation A: Abuse of Authority – Frisk), [redacted] who did not have a valid driver's license, was arrested for driving with a suspended license and for driving without his seatbelt (BR 01). PO Oquendo searched the main body of the car (Allegation B: Abuse of Authority – Vehicle Search, [redacted] and PO Murphy then transported the car to the 34th Precinct stationhouse. When PO Oquendo arrived at the 34th Precinct stationhouse, he lodged [redacted] in the holding cells, and then searched the trunk of the car (Allegation C: Abuse of Authority – Vehicle Search, [redacted] PO Oquendo went to speak with [redacted] further about the incident and allegedly told [redacted] that if [redacted] "didn't stop bugging out about the keys, I'll charge her for the bud of weed." (Allegation D: Abuse of Authority - Threat of Arrest, [redacted]).
[redacted] went to the 34th Precinct stationhouse and approached the desk area, where Sgt. Corey Maguire and PO Leslie Romero, both of the 34th Precinct, were stationed. [redacted] told PO Romero that she wanted to file a complaint against officers, and PO Romero told [redacted] that she could not file a complaint at the stationhouse and that she needed to contact the CCRB directly (Allegation E: Abuse of Authority – Refusal to Process Civilian Complaint, [redacted]). Read report for details.