Complaint #201907621,
August 25, 2019

Summary

On August 25th, 2019, Sgt. Michael Cozier of the 67th Precinct, along with approximately 10 officers assigned to the 67th Precinct, entered an illegal bottle club operating in the basement on [redacted] in Brooklyn (Allegation A: Abuse of Authority - Entry of Premises, [redacted]). The officers cleared the basement of approximately 50-75 paying customers, and then conducted a search throughout the premises (Allegation B: Abuse of Authority – Search of Premises, [redacted]). During this search, Police Officer Ricardo Martinez opened and searched a backpack inside of the basement (Allegation C: Abuse of Authority – Search of Personal Property, [redacted]). Minutes later, PO Martinez located a firearm in plain view. Sgt. Cozier requested the Evidence Collection Team (ECT) to the scene, and assigned two officers to safeguard the location while awaiting ECT. Before he left the scene, Sgt. Cozier used a black cloth to cover a surveillance camera that [redacted] was operating inside of the basement (Allegation D: Abuse of Authority – Interference with Recording Device, [redacted]). At around 8 a.m., [redacted] tried to enter the basement, to obtain information from the officers on-scene. Police Officer Brian Montross, one of two officers assigned to safeguard the location, prevented [redacted] from entering and allegedly told her to "get the fuck out" (Allegation E: Discourtesy – Word, [redacted]). Read report for details.