aGameOfThrones
06-19-2011, 12:26 AM
A federal lawsuit filed Friday claims a pair of white cops stopped, frisked and handcuffed a Harlem teen for six hours - all because he's black.
"It was surreal," said Devin, a freshman at All Hallows, a Catholic school in the Bronx. "I thought cops were out here to protect us. But they racially profile. They are prejudiced. I don't know what to believe anymore."
Police acknowledged Devin didn't have a weapon. And he wasn't charged with a crime. Still, the teen and his parents say he was handcuffed to a bar inside the 30th Precinct stationhouse during a chaotic six hours.
When Devin's parents showed up at the police station to pick him up, all hell broke loose.
Merault Almonor, a former NYPD cop who retired in 2003 from the 20th Precinct, and Wilma Dore-Almonor, a nursing student, say they were attacked by police, thrown to the ground and handcuffed.
"I thought I was in the black-and-white movies like you see in the South," the 52-year-old mom said Friday. "These cops aren't supposed to beat you. I just wanted to pick up my son."
Cops at the 30th Precinct said the parents were the aggressors. They accused the dad of punching a cop in the face - a claim he denies. He was charged with assault and acquitted in April.
"I can't believe my department did this to me," said Merault Almonor, 50, whose late father-in-law was an NYPD detective who served for 37 years. "We are a family of cops."
He's still angry.
"I used to look up to cops," he said. "After this, I lost respect for the department."
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/06/18/2011-06-18_harlem_teen_son_of_former_nypd_officer_claims_w hite_cops_handcuffed_him_in_racia.html
"It was surreal," said Devin, a freshman at All Hallows, a Catholic school in the Bronx. "I thought cops were out here to protect us. But they racially profile. They are prejudiced. I don't know what to believe anymore."
Police acknowledged Devin didn't have a weapon. And he wasn't charged with a crime. Still, the teen and his parents say he was handcuffed to a bar inside the 30th Precinct stationhouse during a chaotic six hours.
When Devin's parents showed up at the police station to pick him up, all hell broke loose.
Merault Almonor, a former NYPD cop who retired in 2003 from the 20th Precinct, and Wilma Dore-Almonor, a nursing student, say they were attacked by police, thrown to the ground and handcuffed.
"I thought I was in the black-and-white movies like you see in the South," the 52-year-old mom said Friday. "These cops aren't supposed to beat you. I just wanted to pick up my son."
Cops at the 30th Precinct said the parents were the aggressors. They accused the dad of punching a cop in the face - a claim he denies. He was charged with assault and acquitted in April.
"I can't believe my department did this to me," said Merault Almonor, 50, whose late father-in-law was an NYPD detective who served for 37 years. "We are a family of cops."
He's still angry.
"I used to look up to cops," he said. "After this, I lost respect for the department."
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/06/18/2011-06-18_harlem_teen_son_of_former_nypd_officer_claims_w hite_cops_handcuffed_him_in_racia.html