Three police officers from New York City will face criminal charges for claims by a tattoo parlor worker that he had been sodomized with a piece of police equipment while arrested.
New York Police officers Richard Kern, Alex Cruz and Andrew Morales have been indicted by a grand jury investigating the allegations. Officials close to the case would not go into detail about the sodomy charges.
However, a reliable law enforcement official source said that the grand jury is in possession of credible forensic evidence obtained by authorities investigating the case. The official also said a witness in addition to the evidence obtained identifies Officer Kern as the main perpetrator. The district attorney’s office announced the charges today.
Defense attorneys for the trio claim their clients did nothing wrong, as the three officers accused in the sodomy case turned themselves in to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office to face the charges.
"We don't know what the people's proof is, but as far as I'm concerned my client is not guilty," said Kern's attorney, John Patten.
Cruz's lawyer, Stuart London said, "He never observed any misconduct nor engaged in any misconduct."
According to reports, on October 15, the three officers approached Michael Mineo while he was outside a subway station. The officers said they believed Mineo was smoking marijuana. Mineo ran from the officers but was apprehended by Kern, Cruz and Morales plus two additional uniformed officers who wrestled Mineo to the ground and cuffed him.
It was then that the 24-year old Mineo claims his pants were pulled down and one of the officers sodomized him. Mineo thinks he was violated with the antenna of a handheld radio and that the assailant was Cruz who committed the act.
However, the grand jury called a transit officer as a witness who testified that he saw Kern with a baton and put it near Mineo’s buttocks. The transit officer was one of those who helped subdue Mineo; he has not been charged with any crime.
Mineo was then given a ticket for disorderly conduct and released from police custody, but was hospitalized for several days. Official hospital documents show that upon Mineo’s arrival he was diagnosed with “anal assault.”
It is expected that Mineo will be filing a huge lawsuit against the city of New York for being sodomized. Mineo’s attorney, Kevin Mosley said his client intends to file a notice of claim with the city, the first step when filing a lawsuit in New York, today as soon as the district attorney announces the charges against the three officers.
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