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Alleged Subway Sodomy Victim Testifies He Saw "White Light"
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 25, 2010
Modified Jan 25, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 25, 2010
Modified Jan 25, 2010
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The 25-year-old man who says NYPD officers sodomized him with a police baton after he resisted arrest in a Brooklyn subway station in October 2008 testified today. Two officers are accused of helping to cover up the brutality of another officer, Richard Kern, who is charged with aggravated sexual abuse and assault. In court this morning, the alleged victim, Michael Mineo, acknowledged he was a former gang member and said he ran from police who caught him smoking pot after they told him he was going to be arrested. Mineo's account of what happened when they caught up to him in the Prospect Park subway station is harrowing:
I felt a hard object being forced into my crack. It was pain. I was disorientated. I saw white light....It was one, two, three, then it stopped for a second, then I felt it go in, penetrate...I was like, 'Help me! They stuck something in my ass!
Mineo testified that after the sodomy, one of the officers, Alex Cruz, said, "You liked it, you faggot." But when he reached into the back of his pants and showed the officers the blood on his hands, they decided to let him go with an improperly-filled out summons for disorderly conduct. "Look, you help me out, I help you out," Officer Kern allegedly said, according to Mineo's testimony. "If we let you go, you can't go to a precinct or a hospital. But if you do, we have your address. We'll put a felony on you."
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michael mineo
nyc
subway sodomy
testimony
trial
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
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