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"Gunpoint Rape" Cop Victim Testifies: "‘Shut The F--k Up Or I’ll Shoot You’”
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 17, 2012
Modified Oct 12, 2017
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 17, 2012
Modified Oct 12, 2017
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On Thursday, the trial began for Michael Pena, a 27-year-old police officer who is accused of raping a schoolteacher at gunpoint while off-duty in Manhattan last August. His defense lawyer used an unusual strategy in his opening statements, admitting his client had committed "an unforgivable crime" and deserved to go to jail—but insisting he did not rape the 25-year-old teacher. Yesterday, the victim took the stand and testified about her ordeal, sobbing several times as she recalled the attack: “He pulled out the gun and said, ‘Shut the f--k up or I’ll shoot you’...He told me to close my eyes or he would f-----g shoot me,” she said.
The teacher had gone to get a ride to work from her school’s principal, who had just hired her a week before, around 6 a.m. on August 19th. Pena, who had been partying at a strip club all night before, drunkenly approached her and asked directions to the subway. When she refused to accompany him there, he flashed his gun at her: “I was caught off guard,” she said. “I didn’t realize it was a gun for a couple of seconds.” She tried offering him her wallet and cell phone, but then she realized he wasn't interested in those things: “My knees sort of buckled,” she said, adding, “I was scared for my life.”
Although he told her to shut her eyes and keep quiet (“I didn’t want to make any noise because I was afraid he would shoot me”), the teacher had no doubt that he penetrated and raped her: "It hurt," she said through tears. After he was interrupted by a neighbor who heard the commotion—Pena allegedly yelled, “Yo, five more minutes dude”—Pena threw the teacher's panties at her, and told her “Don’t f-----g say anything.”
Pena’s lawyer, Ephraim Savitt, is basing his whole case on the fact that actual penetration didn't happen—he readily admits his client attacked the teacher and deserves to go to jail for it. Outside of court after the teacher's testimony, Savitt said her memory was not reliable because she was “in a state of shock” and frightened for her life. “It is totally out of his character to do what he did,” he said. “He’s quiet, he’s respectful, he’s intelligent, and this is something that is absolutely shocking to everybody who knows him.”
The arresting officer had previously testified about Pena's drunken state that morning: "I looked at his shield and I threw it to the ground in disgust." Pena is charged with rape, committing a criminal sexual act and predatory sexual assault—he faces life in prison if convicted of all the charges.
Tagged
cop
drunk
gunpoint rape
inwood
manhattan
michael pena
nypd
off-duty
rape
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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