Complaint #202002500,
March 28, 2020

Summary

On March 28, 2020, at approximately 2:00 a.m., [redacted] and [redacted] were in their 2003 white Cadillac, which [redacted] was driving, near East 170th Street and Third Avenue in the Bronx. An unmarked police vehicle allegedly passed them and made a U-turn, after which a male voice allegedly said over the loudspeaker, "Pull the fuck over." (Allegation A: Abuse of Authority- Vehicle Stop, and Allegation B: Discourtesy-Word, [redacted]). [redacted] allegedly pulled the car over and they waited for a short period of time before the police vehicle drove away without the officers taking any action. Shortly after, [redacted] turned onto 170th Street and parked next to a fire hydrant, and he and [redacted] began to have a conversation. Shortly after, Police Officers Anthony Alvino, Dennis Vargas, Merita Hoxha, and Emmanuel Guerrero, who at the time were all assigned to the 42nd Precinct Anti-Crime team, approached [redacted] and [redacted] in their parked vehicle (Allegations C-J: Abuse of Authority- Stop, [redacted]). Police Officers Hoxha and Guerrero approached [redacted]'s side (passenger) and Police Officers Alvino and Vargas approached [redacted]'s side (driver). Police Officer Vargas frisked and searched [redacted] after which he told him to go to the back of the vehicle (Allegations K and L: Abuse of Authority- Frisk and Search of Person, [redacted]). After arguing with [redacted] for a few minutes about stepping out of the vehicle, Police Officer Hoxha allegedly said, "you need to step out of the car before you make it worse for yourself" (Allegation M: Abuse of Authority- Threat of Force, [redacted]). Waiting at the back of the vehicle while [redacted] argued with Police Officer Hoxha, Police Officer Alvino said to [redacted], "tell her she's gonna have to get out, or she'll get ripped out, there's no reason for that" (Allegation N: Abuse of Authority- Threat of Force, [redacted]).
Police Officer Guerrero entered the car through the open driver door and unbuckled [redacted]'s seatbelt (Allegation O: Abuse... Read report for details.