NEW YORK— Prosecutors have asked two patrolmen to turn themselves in to face charges in the case of a man who claims he was sodomized during an arrest on a subway platform, the officers’ lawyers said Monday.
NEW YORK— Prosecutors have asked two patrolmen to turn themselves in to face charges in the case of a man who claims he was sodomized during an arrest on a subway platform, the officers’ lawyers said Monday.
Officers Richard Kern and Alex Cruz face arraignment Tuesday on charges contained in a sealed indictment, the lawyers said. A third officer also is expected to surrender.
The lawyers were not notified of specific charges but said their clients would plead not guilty. Representatives of the district attorney’s office declined to comment.
"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 "never observed any misconduct nor engaged in any misconduct," said his lawyer, Stuart London. The two officers approached Michael Mineo on Oct. 15 outside a subway station because they believed he was smoking marijuana, police said. When Mineo fled into the station, they and two other uniformed officers wrestled him to the ground face down and handcuffed him.
Mineo, 24, a body piercer at a tattoo parlor, claims that during the struggle his pants were pulled down and one of the officers sodomized him. He has said he believed he was violated with the antenna of a hand-held radio and that the assailant was Cruz.
A transit officer told a grand jury last month that he saw Kern place a baton near Mineo’s buttocks, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the proceedings are not public.
The Police Department has said other eyewitness witness accounts don’t support Mineo’s claim. Mineo was given a ticket for disorderly conduct. He was hospitalized for several days and treated for anal injuries, according to medical records reviewed by The Associated Press. AP ______ Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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