You guys got a real sense of humor.
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.
Especially since uttered in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.
I'm sure you are unaware that a common practice used by drug addicts in NYC is to use children as shills for panhandling purposes.
New Yorkers know that this is a scam and their impulse is to dial 911 and report what they see to children's services - not stop and hand a child money that is going to go straight into a nearby adult's crackpipe.
Every New Yorker has been taken by this scam at one point or another and now most of them are wiser.
You know that a heart attack is the lay term used for a myocardial infraction. Does that make you feel better that you know a term that some people may not be aware of?
If a person enters an ER and says he is having a heart attack the hospital staff isn’t going to spend time correcting him. In fact when doctors speak to patients about heart health they usually use the term heart attack so that the patient will know what health issue is being addressed.
Since you are obviously well versed in cardiac medicine you should be aware of the diagnosis you seek.
Amazing! One in 20 is willing to risk being accused of being a child molester?
also I agree on the similarity of the car ...
that could have been an honest mistake ... or even (shudder) GOOD POLICE work ... as the witness could have easily mistaken the Nissan for the Infinity ...
I just have a problem with the “method of detainment” for lack of a better term ... I can even agree that a Terry stop may have been in order here ...(just seems "gun in the face, knee in the back, head into hood, etc... seems a bit overboard)
Also, I know you and am sure you hear folks ‘cry wolf’ relating to Medical Conditions on a regular basis ... what would have been proper here? and what do you (or is best used) for discernment in that situation?
Thanks
“take my word on this: it is going to be a lot worse in 5 short years”
Why in 5 years?
You guys got a real sense of humor.
No, the kids weren't asking for money. They were well dressed kids crying that they couldn't find their mommy.
Bad cops. Hope he cleans their clocks in court.
lmaoooooooo Tiger.
Do you think that the pitch begins by a kid asking an adult for money?
There would be zero money coming in from a scam that clumsy.
I thought it was funny ...
You immediately offer to find a police officer. If the kid is after money he bugs out. A kid that is honestly lost would welcome the sight of a police officer (because (s)he is too innocent to know better).
The fact is, anyone who ignores a crying child is an assh*le. No way around it.
Are you trying to pretend you’re not one of those guys in the picture? Not gonna buy it! ;^P
Or the kid can say: "If a cop comes I'm going to say you touched me. Give me a twenty and I'll go away." Again, if you think these kids spook just because a cop is mentioned, you are quite mistaken.
The fact is, anyone who ignores a crying child is an assh*le. No way around it.
Let's chalk your cluelessness on this topic up to just not knowing too much about the big city.
I'm not one of the "guys" in that picture ....
but my Mom is ...
And so you walk away. At that point you're no worse off than if you'd never offered to call the cop.
Let's chalk your cluelessness on this topic up to just not knowing too much about the big city.
Washington, D.C. isn't big enough?
Properly speaking that’s not a city.
It’s just where they took a perfectly good swamp and turned it into a sewer...
“It hasn’t been established that anyone did this.”
It could still be established in court though. If so, the guy should bring charges against the cop should for assault and battery. Then let the jury decide.
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