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Man Accusing NYPD of Subway Sodomy Sues for $220 Million
By
John Del Signore
Published May 28, 2009
Modified May 28, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 28, 2009
Modified May 28, 2009
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The 24-year-old Brooklyn tattoo artist (pictured) who says three police officers beat and sodomized him in the Prospect Park subway station last October will be suing the city. Michael Mineo's lawyer tells the Post his client will seek $220 million in damages for the "physical pain, suffering and mental anguish, along with punitive damages suffered." In December, a grand jury indicted the three officers, and a criminal trial is expected to begin this fall. Mineo says the brutality took place after he ran from cops who accused him of smoking marijuana as he approached the station around noon on October 15th, 2008. After they apprehended him near the token booth, Mineo says Officer Richard Kern sodomized him with a baton. A transit cop who was in the station is expected to testify that he saw Kern put his baton on Mineo's buttocks. The damages sought in his civil lawsuit dwarf the money sought in other police brutality lawsuits—by comparison, Abner Louima, who was Mineo's predecessor in the annals of NYPD sodomy victims, sued the city for $155 million back in 2001, but got $8.6 million in a settlement.
Tagged
brooklyn
cops
lawsuit
mineo
nyc
nypd
police brutality
sodomy
subway
suing
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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