Paterson (NJ) OKs $610k Settlement: Gang of 12 White Public Servants [Cops] Kicked, Dragged & Beat 2 Handcuffed Latino Men
/From [HERE] The city has agreed to pay $610,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by two Latino men who were handcuffed while they were kicked, dragged and beaten in 2011 by about a dozen Paterson police officers. The two men who were beaten were Alexis Aponte and Miguel Rivera, both of Paterson.
The incident, which was recorded by two private security cameras, happened shortly after one of the men allegedly fired a shot at an off-duty Paterson police officer outside a city bar. Police then pursued the suspect, who fled in an SUV, and a large number of officers converged on the scene when the arrests were made outside the Paterson home of one of the men.
The video shows Aponte being kicked repeatedly while handcuffed and then dragged down the street along the pavement. He then is dragged beyond the camera’s view for more public servanting. [MORE]
“We really had no choice, everything was on video,” said Councilman Michael Jackson, when asked about the approval of the settlement. “We knew that if this went to trial we were not going to win. We could have lost millions of dollars.”
The council voted 8-0 to approve the settlement on Wednesday night.
Darren Del Sardo, attorney for the men, alleged to local news outlet The Record that police robbed both men of “money, jewelry and other personal belongings” during the incident. [MORE]
Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale said about a dozen officers face disciplinary charges in the case. The city has been waiting for the conclusion of the civil lawsuit before conducting hearings on the departmental charges, officials said. In some cases, the officers face possible termination under the charges being brought against them, the director said.
“Now that this has been resolved, the disciplinary proceedings can move forward,” Speziale said.
The city has not released the names of all the officers being charged. Among those involved in the lawsuit were Sgt. Donato DeAngelis, Robert DelaCruz, James DiPiazza, Luis Fermin, Spencer Finch, Ronald James, Robert Orozco, John Phelan, Lt. Bert Ribiero, Michael Sisco, and Jose Torres.
Jackson said the incident was “unacceptable” and said he planned to keep tabs on the disciplinary process. “For a number of years, there’s been a lack of accountability with these type of things,” said Jackson, chairman of the council’s public safety committee.
Both men had been initially been charged with attempted murder in connection with a shooting that targeted Torres, while he was off-duty outside Augie’s Bar on McBride Avenue.
Aponte eventually was convicted of aggravated assault for pointing his gun at Torres and spent several years in jail. Rivera was convicted of a fourth-degree conspiracy offense and placed on probation.
Aponte’s lawyer, Darren Del Sardo, said Aponte and Rivera would split the money from the city. “I think it’s a fair and just settlement,” Del Sardo said.
Without convening a grand jury the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office [white folks] reviewed the incident and decided in 2013 not to file any criminal charges against the officers involved. Senior assistant prosecutor Paul DeGroot declined to say why the case never went to a grand jury, other than to say that the “totality of the facts,” did not warrant such action. He cited, for example, the fact that one of the alleged victims had fired a gun at an off-duty police officer shortly before the arrest.
The city has spent close to $100,000 on private lawyers to defend various police officers in the civil lawsuit. But that may not include all the legal costs in the case, officials said. Some bills have not yet been filed, lawyers said.
The $610,000 settlement is among the largest paid out by Paterson during the past six years. The cost is surpassed only by a $1.6 million payout in a political retaliation case involving a police officer who was demoted after delivering a campaign sign for Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres's opponent and a $710,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by a woman who said a Paterson police officer forced her to have sex with him while she was in custody.