Courthouse News Service-NYPD Crush Larynx of Supreme Court Judge and Cover-it-up
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CN) - New York City police crushed the larynx of a Queens County Supreme Court judge with a karate chop and then conspired to cover up the attack, the judge claims in Federal Court.
Queens County Supreme Court Judge Thomas D. Raffaele, 70, claims in a $300,000 lawsuit that the New York City Police Department and Queens District Attorney’s office conspired to cover up the June 1, 2012 attack on him in Jackson Heights.
In the 43-page lawsuit, Raffaele claims he went to help a homeless man in the neighborhood who was being attacked by police.
Raffaele says he heard the handcuffed homeless man pleading with unknown officers, “I beg you please stop, I beg you please stop,” while police assaulted him in front of a swelling crowd.
Raffaele says he called police and urged the crowd to move away from the man being assaulted.
He claims police arrived and threatened many in the crowd who were filming the attack with cell phones. He says police threatened local shop owners not to provide security footage of the incident.
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