Cops charged as lawyers smear teen accuser
A PAIR OF NYPD detectives and self-proclaimed “freaks” raped a handcuffed teenager in a police van in Coney Island after threatening to arrest her for having marijuana, Brooklyn prosecutors said Monday.
Demoted detectives Eddie Martins and Richard Hall pleaded not guilty to a 50-count indictment that included charges of first-degree rape, first-degree criminal sexual act, second-degree kidnapping and official misconduct
The officers say the sex with the 18-year-old was consensual. Martins is free on $250,000 bail, while Hall posted $150,000 bail.
Attorneys for both officers attacked the teen’s credibility in court, citing her comments on social media after she reported being raped.
“The alleged victim has motive — financial gain — bragging about making $50 million on social media,” said Hall’s attorney, John Arlia.
The nauseating details of the reported attack on Sept. 15 were revealed in papers released by Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
Martins, 37, and Hall, 32, were part of a plainclothes team of detectives from Brooklyn South Narcotics conducting a “buy and bust” operation around Coney Island.
The pair left their post “without authorization” around 7:30 p.m. in an unmarked Dodge Caravan, and drove to Calvert Vaux Park in nearby Gravesend.
There, they pulled over an Infiniti Coupe driven by the 18-year-old. Two of her male friends were in the car.
After the teen admitted to having some weed in the car, as well as two anti-anxiety Klonopin pills, the detectives said they were putting her under arrest and giving her a summons.
They told her friends to retrieve her from the 60th Precinct stationhouse in three hours — and not to follow their van, prosecutors said.
After they drove off, Martins allegedly asked the handcuffed teen, “We’re freaks — what do you want to get out of this arrest?” Martins then forced the handcuffed victim to perform oral sex and raped her in the backseat while Hall — a married father of two — drove and watched through the rear-view mirror, prosecutors said. The detectives then parked the van in Bay Ridge — 4 miles from where they were supposed to be posted — and switched places, authorities say. Hall allegedly forced the victim to perform oral sex while Martins drove. The cops eventually gave the teen the Klonopin pills back, told her to call her friends and released her, prosecutors said. “They told her she better keep her mouth shut,” Assistant District Attorney Frank DeGaetano said. Video surveillance shows the victim exiting the police van at 8:42 p.m. The teen told a friend about the incident that night and went to Maimonedes Medical Center, where DNA matching the cops was recovered, papers say.
“It is incomprehensible that two veteran NYPD detectives would allegedly commit such an outrageous act,” Gonzalez said.
“We will now seek to hold them accountable for this flagrant betrayal of public trust.”
Attorneys for both officers noted that some of the charges appeared contradictory. Arlia asked how the cops could be charged with both forcible rape and bribery.
“These charges are a schizophrenic account,” he said.
Court papers indicated that the teen couldn’t identify Martins in a photo array, but was able to identify Hall.
“We don't believe that the story that the young woman was forcibly raped is supported by any credible evidence whatsoever,” said Martins’ attorney, Mark Bederow. “Where’s the DNA on the handcuffs?”
Gonzalez said the cops’ defense was a sign of “desperation.”
Martins and Hall have been suspended without pay and stripped of their guns and shields.
They each face up to 25 years in prison.