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Pot Meatball Victim Sues for NYPD Job Back
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 5, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 5, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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The spicy story of the cop fired after testing positive on a drug test - after unkowingly eating a meatball spiked with pot - returns with a lawsuit! Anthony Chiofalo, a 22-year veteran of the NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force, is suing to be reinstated, claiming his termination was "arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable and unconstitutional."
Back in 2005, Chiofalo was shocked when he tested positive for marijuana during a drug test. Then it turned out his wife twice laced a batch of meatballs with, as the Post puts it, "six joints worth of marijuana." Cathy Chiofalo, who smoked marijuana for back pain, wanted her husband to retire (he had promised he would after 20 years) and feared for his life (his brother and former partners were killed on September 11), so she got crafty - and cooking.
Both husband and wife passed polygraph tests, leading Internal Affairs to find him not guilty (by reason of "involuntary ingestion) but Police Commissioner Ray Kelly upheld Chiofalo's termination this past August. Now, with the lawsuit filed, Chiofalo's lawyer Richard Dienst noted his client's "unblemished record" and emphasized that he was clueless about the whole situation. Dienst said, "When he heard his wife put this in his meatballs, he was stunned. The guy sat in the room shaking his head for half an hour...This whole thing has left a bitter taste in his mouth." The lawyer also says the couple still loves each other.
Tagged
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commissioner ray kelly
internal affairs
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Joint Terrorism Task Force
jointterrorismtaskforce
lawsuit
marijuana
meatball
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nypd
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police commissioner ray kelly
pot
Ray Kelly
september 11
Task Force
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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