Complaint #201909743,
October 27, 2019

Summary

On October 27, 2019, at approximately 2 AM, [redacted] entered the 42nd Street Port Authority Subway Station, near the A, C, and E lines on West 40th Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan. After swiping his metro card through the turnstiles, [redacted] stopped above the staircase, leading to the platform of the downtown A, C, and E trains. As began fixing his belt, an unidentified female MTA cleaning employee allegedly believed that [redacted] was going to urinate in the station; therefore, the employee went to tell a police officer. Police Officer Claudio Diaz, of the Transit Bureau-Manhattan Task Force, allegedly approached [redacted] screamed at him and asked him what he was doing "peeing" there (Allegation A-Abuse of Authority, [redacted]). After moments of back and forth between PO Diaz and [redacted] PO Diaz told [redacted] that he was loitering and that if he did not leave the mezzanine at that moment, he would arrest him (Allegation B-Abuse of Authority, [redacted]). [redacted] went down the stairs to the platform and PO Diaz allegedly began threatening him, stating that [redacted] did not know all of things he would do to him if he did not have his badge on (Allegation C-Abuse of Authority, [redacted]). PO Diaz took out a cellphone and allegedly began recording [redacted] however, the investigation has established that PO Diaz took a photograph of [redacted] not a recording (Allegation D-Abuse of Authority, [redacted]). [redacted] took a photo of PO Diaz as PO Diaz allegedly recorded [redacted] and then [redacted] walked away. Shortly after, there was an altercation near [redacted] s location on the platform, which PO Diaz responded to. PO Diaz asked the train conductor if [redacted] was the individual causing the disturbance, to which [redacted] responded that he was not causing a disturbance and was just on his way home. [redacted] did not continue a conversation with PO Diaz and walked away. Read report for details.