Cop Indicted for Breaking Man's Face With Nightstick

In an indictment unsealed yesterday, Bronx cop Marc Rios, a 12-year-veteran, is accused of assaulting a man outside a Kingsbridge nightclub around 4:20 a.m. on March 30th. Assistant DA James Cudden says the "unprovoked incident" happened after Rios's squad car almost hit clubgoer John Roperto, who had just exited the El Aguila nightclub. Roperto angrily hit the hood of the car, and Rios got out and cracked Roperto in the face with his nightstick—breaking the man's cheekbone and the baton. Rios then drove off, but when his Sergeant informed him about a 911 call to the location, he allegedly quipped, "That must be my bag of shit." Rios faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted; his lawyer tells the Post he acted in self-defense because Roperto, who was "quite likely... highly intoxicated," disobeyed an order to stop and approached Rios with his hands hidden beneath a jacket. Rios's lawyer also points out that Roperto got off easy, because "perhaps an inexperienced officer might've pulled out his gun and shot him."

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By John Del Signore in News on September 16, 2009 11:48 AM

Comments [rss]

jnguy

Hm. Funny that the cop drove off after the incident.

Tower18

How drunk do you have to be to think it's ever a good idea to beat on the hood of an NYPD squad car?

Rocknrope

Wow, it is really heard to break one of those polycarbonate batons, so either he really cracked him hard, or that baton has been through some significant abuse, Vic Mackey-style, prior to it meeting the drunk's cheekbone.

SC

They're not all polycarbonate. Basic wood ones are still the cheapest option at the NYPD's equipment section.

That said, you gotta swing pretty damn hard to break one of those, too. They're about an inch thick... ow.

Loulou

Your not allowed the wood batons..You get the cheap asps baton (the ones that extend). You can grandfather the wooden ones I believe though if you were already in when they implemented the asps as a carrying standard. I know they were giving other units such as auxiliary the wooden ones.

SC

Hmm, okay. Well... whatever it was, if it broke, that had to be a hell of a swing.

Loulou

Hell yeah. As cheap as the asp can be it shouldn't break on someones face. Thats just fucked up.

sexisicilian

No but I do not believe EVERYTHING I read in the news or on this website; YOU OR I do not know what that bag of shit was doing to the cops either I was not there to say & neither were you ...

streber

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=54162036

jaycjay

"perhaps an inexperienced officer might've pulled out his gun and shot him."

While, on the other hand, perhaps a normal level-headed person would have not even stopped and gotten out of the car.

chuzzlewit

he's REALLY lucky there weren't TWO cops, cause then they would've escorted him back to his own apartment for some nypd l'amour

jaycjay

Actually as stated in the articles there were two cops. Rios' partner stayed in the car.

Snoopy

When did the NYPD start wearing white debutante gloves? I like the look. Also when did they start making badges larger in relationship to how many years they were on the job?

Espiazul

Fuck th po-lice. Cops are mostly uneducated, don't read, are non-creative, and bullies.

longacre

Yeah, because people who "read" always act civilly. You're so enlightened.

Loulou

That's just completely ignorant. Judge all by the actions of some? Even when I was a child I was thought otherwise. By that theory Id be a racist and a bigot. Luckily not everyone has that same mindset. If what the story says is true I hope he gets the punishment he deserves.

sexisicilian

You may need them one day so watch what you say, I would luv to see what most civilians out there would do if a drunk man hit their car & how they would react. Cops see a lot more shit than we can ever imagine & can lose their lives everyday on the job so give the good ones a lot more credit!!

jaycjay

"I would luv to see what most civilians out there would do if a drunk man hit their car & how they would react."

Most would probably say something like "wow, that guy's drunk!" and drive on.

Loulou

lol not where im from..hes lucky he pulled that shit with a cop..he just won the ghetto lottery. Done that somewhere else you would get your assbeat or worse depending on the temper.. with no $$ coming your way.

hotstepper

did you miss the part where the cop almost ran him over?

or where the cop hit him in the fucking head with a baton hard enough to break said baton?

or what about the part where the cop proceeded to drive off, later referring to him as "my bag of shit"?

yes we should overlook these minor infractions, cuz we might need those helpful, dutiful, hardworking police one day.

Snoopy

At the best this is a product liability situation. Are the new police batons made in Taiwan?

valeriob

This is why you should always have a backup nightstick. Stupid drunk idiot had too much liquid courage and got cracked.

Pow!

HymietownHero

And you once called me a troll?

valeriob

I don't remember calling you a troll, BUT I am calling you a jackass now. I will remember this time.

A troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional or disciplinary response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Go ahead. I'm listening.