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Man Sues City, Claims Stroke In Police Custody Was Ignored
By
John Del Signore
Published May 6, 2010
Modified May 6, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 6, 2010
Modified May 6, 2010
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A Queens limo driver is suing the city for $540 million because cops allegedly ignored him after he suffered a stroke during a wrongful arrest, according to court papers obtained by the Post. Gerardo Mayol says he was arrested because he got caught up in a landlord-tenant dispute, and had agreed to testify against his neighbor Jessica Varney, who had been accused of "disruptive and unseemly conduct" as a tenant. But Varney, apparently, is not someone you want to mess with, and she allegedly came after Mayol with a vengeance.
Before the hearing began, Varney filed a stalking and harassment complaint against Mayol, who claims that Varney "had a secret relationship" with an NYPD sergeant. A couple of weeks later, in January 2009, the police arrested Mayol on the charges. At the 104th Precinct in Ridgewood, Mayol told cops he had difficulty breathing and was dizzy, but they just laughed at him, according to the suit. His pleas to use the bathroom were also denied, and one officer allegedly telling Mayol that if he urinated on the floor, "he was going to use Mayol’s sweater to clean it up and then put his sweater back on him."
Then they took him downtown to the Tombs, where he finally passed out in his cell, later awakening in the hospital, where he remained for twenty days, recovering from his stroke. Of course, it could have been worse—last year a 75-year-old man went into cardiac arrest and died after he was handcuffed during a raid at his Italian social club in Bensonhurst. But the nightmare didn't end there—although the charges were dismissed, when Mayol finally got back to his home, he was "forced to cower and hide in his apartment when Varney’s cop-boyfriend came and banged on his door." So yeah, duly noted: Stay on Jessica Varney's good side.
Tagged
arrest
Gerardo Mayol
lawsuit
nypd
stroke
wrongful arrest
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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