Cop: Superior Punched Me For Refusing To Write Tickets

from dietrich's flickr

A Bronx cop claims a superior punched him for refusing to write bogus summonses. "I'm not going to give the bread deliveryman a ticket before going into the deli and telling him," said Officer Anthony Minoia, 46, who is planning on filing suit against the city for the violent incident. "I didn't forget what it was like to be a civilian before I got a badge."

Minoia, an Air Force veteran and Columbia University graduate, is the latest in a string of officers to accuse the NYPD of having quotas for summonses and arrests, pressuring officers to write false summonses, and manipulating crime stats so commanding officers appear to have a better grip on their precincts. "I'm not going to pull out my summons book and write a summons because my boss is telling me he's going to make it difficult for me if I don't," Minoia told the Daily News. "I don't use my powers to make a deputy inspector get promoted."

After 18 months of refusing to write summonses, Minoia says things turned ugly on Jan. 11. First, a supervisor accused him of taking too long of a bathroom break. Then he was informed that he had been transferred to a midnight shift. According to police reports, Minoia fainted minutes after learning of the transfer. The documents reportedly indicate that when Deputy Inspector Timothy Bugge tried to disarm him, Minoia grabbed the commanding officer's neck or collar. Minoia—who has been suspended for insubordination and getting into an altercation with a superior—rejects that version of the story, and claims that Bugge punched him.

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By Ben Muessig in News on March 8, 2010 12:00 PM

Comments [rss]

kplunkett

I am curious if the summons under question to the bread delivery man was for double parking?? On a side note related to that, have you seen how MANY tickets are given to UPS and FEDEX trucks? It is crazy! Where else are they going to park except double parked. I mentioned it to a UPS driver once and he shrugged his shoulders and said that the truck is an easy target. Weird. I wonder if they pay those tickets, or if there is some deal between the company and the city to pay a minimal amount of all tickets...

Andrew_7396

gothamist freakin hates cops

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

i mean shouldn't an officer hear your side before you summons you? Damn, cop on cop violence. I hope he wins his suit. These bogus summons and fake crime data only gives a false pretense this city is safe and millions of dollars wasted in solving no real crimes.

MEDICNYC

If you are parked illegally why would they wait and hear your side of the story? That's for you to talk about with the parking adjudication judge. They don't have the time or the interest to hear what kind of bread you were delivering or how much longer you will be.

youngpro

felix,

no, the officer has no obligation to hear your side. that's YOUR job to do in court and the officer will make it very clear if you misunderstand that.

Spirit of 76

He fainted? I'm not sure I want a cop around who swoons at an emotional moment.

5borough

Sounds like a total loser playing the ghetto lottery. If a shift change made him faint, he was probably terrified to write a summons to the boys drinking in front of the barber shop.

inoyourider

He didn't faint, he got sucker-punched.

Fainting is the official story to explain how he ended up on the ground with a facial injury.

5borough

He sounds like a real coward.

JacqueMehoff

why does the NYPD hates veterans? don't they support our Troops?? You would think with a PC who's a marine they would treat them better.

Politburo

The real issue seems unrelated to tickets. While I don't condone the use of violence, as alleged, if the officer was not doing his job, he should have been dismissed.

And the example given makes no sense. Perhaps it's the lack of details.. but why should the bread deliveryman get advance notice of his ticket? It is extremely likely that he was doing something that he knew was illegal, e.g. a parking violation.