S.I. cop suit ‘Gray’ area
I suffered ‘rough ride’ like Freddie
A STATEN ISLAND man is suing NYPD cops for taking him on a “rough ride” in the back of a police van — an experience eerily similar to the Freddie Gray case in Baltimore.
Joseph Rodman, 37, claims cops tossed him into the back of the windowless vehicle and took him on a harrowing ride through the streets of Staten Island while he lay facedown, handcuffed and unsecured in the rear compartment.
Rodman’s suit, filed in Brooklyn Federal Court, alleges the unnamed cop behind the wheel “deliberately drove erratically and recklessly for approximately five hours by repeatedly accelerating and decelerating abruptly, slamming on the brakes, making sharp turns and speeding around corners.”
The alleged stunt driving sent Rodman rolling around the interior like a rag doll, slamming into the back doors of the van, the front metal wall separating the rear compartment, and two benches that faced each other, according to the suit.
“But for the grace of God, Joseph would have suffered the same fate as Freddie Gray,” lawyer Jason Leventhal told The Daily News. “Thankfully, Joseph made it out of his rough ride alive.”
Leventhal was referring to the April 19 death of Gray, who suffered a fatal injury to his spinal cord in a Baltimore police van while being transported with his wrists and ankles shackled.
Like Rodman, he was allegedly given a rough ride while cops picked up additional prisoners.
Gray’s death triggered days of violent rioting in the city and the arrests of six cops .
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment about the department policy for securing prisoners in the back of a van.
Rodman was driving his Saturn sedan on Bloomingdale Road on April 10, 2014, when he was pulled over by plainclothes narcotics cops. They arrested him when they found prescription medication for anxiety and pain, and a stun gun in the car. Leventhal said his client had never been arrested and had prescriptions for the meds. Rodman told his lawyer the weapon wasn’t his and may have been left there by the previous owner of the car, which he had recently purchased.
During the ride, he suffered an anxiety attack. The cops allegedly responded “by laughing and stating, ‘F--- you, shut up, we’ve had enough of you,’ ” the suit said. Rodman is seeking unspecified monetary damages for emotional distress and injuries from the being bumped around.
A spokeswoman for the city Law Department said the suit will be reviewed.