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Tapes Show Cops, Accused of Raping East Village Woman, Returning to Her Building Twice
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 2, 2009
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 2, 2009
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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A neighborhood bar's surveillance camera captured footage of two cops, accused of raping an East Village resident, returning to the woman's apartment two times after their first visit.
Yesterday, the Daily News and Post reported that police officers, who were called by a cab driver to help the woman—who apparently vomited in the cab—get home on December 7, were stripped of their guns and badges and were put on modified duty. While the two cops have not been identified, the Post reports, "Several sources identified the cops as Kenneth Moreno, a 17-year NYPD veteran who is married with two kids, and Franklin L. Mata, who has been on the force for three years... When they came back a second time, Moreno allegedly raped the woman as his partner stood by, the sources said."
Bar owner Heather Millstone, whose bar Heathers is at 506 East 13th Street, told the NY Times the women's friends told her about the attack, "We made copies of the video. I gave the copies to her friends so she could give them to her lawyer and the lawyer could take them directly to the D.A.’s office." According to Millstone, the cops are first seen at 1:10 a.m., helping the woman insto the apartment building, and leave 7 minutes later. Then, at 1:59 a.m., they returned, following another resident inside. They leave the building after 17-20 minutes, and Millstone says the cops, apparently noting the surveillance camera, try to avoid it.
The cops returned for a final time just before 3 a.m.—using a key—and stayed about 34 minutes. Millstone told the Post the woman saw the tape and "had a sense of vindication." Mayor Bloomberg said, "It is a very serious charge, obviously, and I don’t want to prejudice anything, but you can rest assured that the Internal Affairs Bureau is working very hard and doing an investigation."
Update (9/9/11): Gothamist has published a long-form feature about the Rape Cop case, written by one of the jurors. It takes you behind the scenes during their deliberations, and explains how they came to their controversial verdict. Buy it today as a PDF or on Kindle.
Tagged
crime
east village
nypd
rape accusation
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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