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Driver Sues City After Video Shows Cops Admitting They "Don't Know Why" They Pulled Him Over
By
Emma Whitford
Published Jun 8, 2015
Modified Jun 8, 2015
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By
Emma Whitford
Published Jun 8, 2015
Modified Jun 8, 2015
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A Bronx man who was arrested after a traffic stop in April—but not before he managed to capture one of his arresting officers on cellphone video admitting "I don't even know why we pulled him over"—is filing a lawsuit against the city.
Around 6:00 p.m. on April 20th, Benjamin Farias, 26, was pulled over near the intersection of Grand Concourse and 204th Street in the Bronx. Farias asked repeatedly why he had been stopped. According to the suit, when the officers claimed that Farias's license was expired, he produced a document from the clerk's office in Bethlehem New York, confirming that the suspension had been lifted. The officers proceeded with the arrest anyway.
“I knew something was wrong, so I decided to film,” Farias told the News. He placed his recording cellphone in a drink holder before he was handcuffed—so tightly that he fractured his wrist.
According to the tabloid, upon searching his car, the only thing the officers found was an "uneaten cookie."
Here's Farias's video, uploaded to YouTube on April 30th. In the last 20 seconds, one officer can be heard from off camera saying, "I don't even know why we pulled him over. He was like, 'What was the reason why you pulled me over?'" Another voice responds, "Just put cocaine test."
After the arrest (and two hours at the 52nd Precinct for Farais) the cops attributed the stop to an obstructed windshield—a Christmas tree air freshener hanging from the review mirror, according to Farias's notice of claim.
"Unfortunately, this is the kind of thing that's consistent with what I've seen in other cases," Farias's attorney Andrew Hoffman told us this morning. "What makes it unusual is that Farias had the presence of mind to turn his camera phone on."
Tagged
police misconduct
probable cause
the bronx
traffic stop
Emma Whitford
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