Please be aware that if you damage city property, say by getting run over by a cop car, you can expect to receive a bill in the mail to cover the damages. This was the lesson learned by 25-year-old Jesse Zorski, who foolishly damaged a cop car when he got in its way at the intersection of Centre Street and White Street in April. The Daily News reports that the vehicle "struck his left leg, then he smashed into the side-view mirror and hit the ground, landing on his wrist." Naturally, lawyers for the city are very concerned about that mirror...
Not long after Zorski's mother sued the city to cover the $1,200 cost of the ambulance ride and the hospital, they received a bill in the mail from attorneys hired by the city to collect $1,028.08. That's how much it supposedly cost to make repairs to the NYPD cruiser that Zorski damaged with his body. (Zorski, who is hearing impaired, insists he had the right of way, and that neither his hearing aid nor the two beers he had consumed contributed to the accident.) "It does seem that when they realized we were going to sue they sent us the bill,” Zorski tells the tabloid.
In a rare admission of guilt, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne concedes, "The letter should not have been sent. We’re examining safeguards to make sure similar letters are not sent in the future." The city Law Department has also instructed the outside law firm that sent the bill to drop the case. But this isn't the first time city lawyers have tried to make victims pay for the NYPD's mistakes—last month the mother of a 27-year-old Bronx man who was fatally struck by a police car received a $710 bill to repair the car that killed him.
And it goes without saying that if your face happens to get in the way of a cop's fist and he hurts his wrist, you'll also be held accountable.
