Posted on 10/08/2007 9:23:47 AM PDT by SubGeniusX
A mild-mannered Brooklyn high school teacher says he was nearly scared to death by NYPD cops who mistook him for a perp.
When the violent encounter was over, Lester Jacob, 50, suffered a heart attack and was left on his own in the street by cops, who accused him of "acting."
In July he underwent open-heart surgery.
Jacob had the misfortune to be driving home through Brownsville, Brooklyn, on June 22 around the same time cops were on the lookout for a hit-and-run driver. Jacob, an earth science teacher at James Madison High School in Midwood, heard a siren, looked in his rear-view mirror and dutifully pulled over for the radio car behind him.
He wasn't prepared for what happened next. Two officers rushed up to Jacob's vehicle and pointed their guns at his head, according to a lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Cursing at him, they ordered Jacobs out of the car and roughly cuffed him.
"One officer crushed his knee into Mr. Jacob's back," the complaint states. "They then repeatedly slammed his head onto the car and then pressed his head against the car for some time."
Additional officers arrived on the scene with a witness to the earlier accident. The witness told them Jacob was the wrong guy.
"'I told you it was a white Maxima,'" the witness reportedly said, according to the complaint. Jacob drives a white Infiniti.
Jacob told the cops he was experiencing chest pains and began coughing uncontrollably.
A female cop said, "Nice acting," according to Jacob, and then drove off. Jacob said he struggled to drive home, stopping to vomit on the side of the road.
His wife rushed him to the hospital, where doctors determined he had suffered a heart attack.
"I was scared to death," Jacob said of his brush with the NYPD. "I was feeling terror."
His attorney John Lambros said there was no reason for the cops to handcuff or use excessive force against the 150-pound teacher while they were waiting for the witness to show up.
The cops were not identified, but their radio car number has been turned over to the Civilian Complaint Review Board. A spokeswoman for the city Law Department said the complaint is being reviewed.
Agreed: And the keyword here is "fringe". No doubt included in that fringe element is your malita sorts, anti-government sorts, etc......
“Clearly you aren’t interested in a serious discussion”
I could say the same for you, since you keep trying to downgrade these officers offense to bad manners, while ignoring the assault which caused the victim to suffer a heart attack.
Incidentally I do believe that most people reading this thread can tell the difference between rudeness and genocide, however I am beginning to wonder if you can, which prompted my original observation.
Good enough place to bump this thread.
So what crime does she belong in jail for? Are you saying the woman cop roughed the guy up and caused his heart attack? Where did you see that in the article? It sounded more like she was one of the officers that brought the witness to the scene. But, hey, don't let me interrupt your kangaroo court proceedings.
No, I said this particular hold "may or may not" have been for probable cause.
If it was not for probable cause, there are legal ramifications. If it was for probable cause, then there aren't.
A car not matching the description of the one you're looking for doesn't seem like proable cause to me. Does it to you?
Again, this is what the plaintiff is saying - we do not have sworn testimony from the original witness documenting this.
The plaintiff's entire case - and the fat court award it may bring - hinge upon whether the police had probable cause. His attorney's entire goal is to cast doubt on the police having probable cause.
‘Incidentally I do believe that most people reading this thread can tell the difference between rudeness and genocide,”
Cuffing someone is not genocide. Neither is it rude. Rude is telling the cop he’s fat. Getting beat up, threatened with deadly force and refused necessary medical care is not rude.
It always freaks me out in these kind of threads that there are as many people on a conservative forume willing to excuse any excess by the police
You get a one-sided story from a guy that has filed a lawsuit and a part of the fringe element around here goes wackadoodle over it.
You get a one sided story from the police and the fringe element around here elbow each other aside to lick the jackboots.
Bet you thought that the police who killed the old lady in Atlanta were treated too harshly when they got jail time.
Still, were you to rob a bank, and someone in that bank died of a heart attack, YOU would be held criminally liable for their death.
One set of rules for the serfs, quite another for the masters?
It is not established that there ever was any assault, nor is it established that the plaintiff had a "heart attack" (which by the way is a popular term which has no medical meaning), nor is it established that there is any connection between the two.
however I am beginning to wonder if you can
In other words, you're still clowning around.
ummm... how do you know how he was dressed when the stop was made?
The only picture we have is that of a Black man with beard wearing a button up shirt with a collar and a hat......(that from the pose and the background most likely was not taken at the time of the incident)...(do you have a pic from that day that we don't?)
please tell me what part of this outfit is "similar style to gang members" ... I have very similar clothing ...
Is it the beard?
is it well pressed shirt?
is it his skin color?
please elaborate ..
looks to me pretty much like he is dressed like ... well ... a Social Studies Teacher ...
Okay, I misunderstood. I agree with what you said above.
er... medical records will show conclusively whether or not he had a heart attack on the day he was assaulted by the police. since these records will be made public during a trial, it is a pretty good bet that what his lawyer claims happened to him actually did happen to him. You are grasping at straws.
I'll take my argument a step further and say that the police were acting in concert. One roughed him up, causing a heart attack, and the other ignored his pleas for help. How are they not jointly responsible for the injury caused just like any other defendants who act together to cause harm?
Thanks.
From the article:
"His wife rushed him to the hospital, where doctors determined he had suffered a heart attack."
seems pretty "established" to me ...
That would hinge in large part on expert medical testimony.
My attorney certainly would not take the alleged causality of the heart attack for granted.
One set of rules for the serfs, quite another for the masters?
If there were two sets of rules then Mr. Jacobs would not be legally allowed to file a civil suit against the NYPD. But he is, and his attorney has the right to subpoena police officers and official police records, to put the police officers involved in front of a jury and to extract large amounts of cash from the NYPD if he prevails.
I think you'd find that most of us that refuse to lick jackboots have had very few encounters with the police & that those we have had were minor traffic stops in which we were polite and on more than one occasion the police officer was not. I have been stopped by one very courteous officer and several who were complete asses. I have never been arrested.
er.... where in the article did you read she was one of the cops who brought the witness to the scene? If this is true, then she doesn’t belong in jail, only the cops who assaulted the man causing him to have a heart attack. Understand?
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