Judge rips suit vs. cop
Suspect’s cry of bad bust easily proven to be bogus
A federal judge has thrown out another lawsuit against NY PD Detective David Terrell after learning that the embattled cop wasn’t on patrol when the plaintiff claimed Terrell snatched him off the street, the Daily News has learned.
Judge Sarah Netburn dismissed the false arrest and malicious prosecution suit filed by Jerome Roman against Terrell and several other cops with prejudice after each of his allegations fell apart under scrutiny.
Roman, of the Bronx, said in court papers that he was illegally arrested by Terrell and other officers four times in 2014 and 2015.
But memo book entries and arrest paperwork showed that Terrell wasn’t involved in any of the arrests. Terrell was either at the stationhouse, on another assignment or was off when the busts occurred.
Roman alleged that after he was arrested at a loud house party in the Bronx, Terrell saw him in a cell, and the detective’s “eyes like glittered up once he saw us, like he got a trophy or something.” Terrell was off that day. “Detective Terrell’s eyes did not light up seeing plaintiff’s misfortune on July 20, 2014, because he was not present, at any time, to arrest plaintiff on this date, or for plaintiff ’s arrest processing,” city attorney Kiran Rosenkilde wrote in scathing court papers demanding that Roman’s suit be tossed.
“[This lawsuit] is yet another attempt to attribute plaintiff’s history of arrests to Detective Terrell without legitimate grounds or any basis in fact,” city lawyers stated.
“I’m happy I’ve been vindicated, but it’s sad that these attorneys who file these frivolous lawsuits aren’t being held accountable for their actions,” Terrell said Wednesday.
“This [judgment] shows that not every police officer has a black cloud hanging over their heads and that there are good cops, but I can’t get the 2½ years I spent fighting these suits back.”
Terrell said that bogus suits have torpedoed his career with the NYPD. He’s missed out on promotions and better assignments as a result of dismissed lawsuits.
His attorney Eric Sanders said the embattled cop has been the subject of nearly 20 lawsuits over the past few years on allegations of false arrest and roughing up people.
Each case against Terrell has been thrown out for a litany of reasons, mostly for lack of evidence, Sanders said.
“The NYPD and the Bronx DA knew he wasn’t guilty of anything, but did nothing about it,” Sanders explained. “All of this ended up being a waste of taxpayer money.”
A call to Roman’s attorney for comment was not immediately returned.