Earlier this week Shane Rhooms, who earlier had spent three weeks in prison for allegedly firing at police officers, was cleared of all charges when video and cell phone records showed he was clearly at a reggae concert at Webster Hall when the Flatbush shootings occurred. But the police aren't backing off their story. Not only did a spokesman say on Tuesday that they "remain skeptical of the purported alibi" but then Police Commissioner Ray Kelly went and offered more support for the officers who made the ID Wednesday. Maybe he should have done a little more research into who he was defending?
The Daily News looked into the cops who fingered Rhooms in the first place and what they found doesn't looks great. Particularly, the fact that over his 13-year-career, Lt. Robert Henderson has cost the city $500,000 over eight court settlements. One lawyer who has sued the cop on behalf of clients five times told the paper that "it seems clear to me he has made multiple false arrests in the hope of finding contraband." To which Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne bitchily responded, "The lieutenant put his life on the line, which is more than a plaintiff's lawyer will do."
Rhooms' lawyer, meanwhile, is pissed that the NYPD is still talking smack about his client even after he provided an alibi. In a statement yesterday he wrote: “We are extremely concerned with the NYPD’s posture that the officers and investigators remain confident that Mr. Rhooms was involved in this crime. This position confirms that the Blue Wall is alive and well at all levels of the NYPD and should be of great concern to all citizens."
