BAD BUST HITS CITY FOR $80G
THE CITY will pay $80,000 to a deaf woman who accused cops of wrongly arresting her and denying her an interpreter, officials confirmed Thursday.
Tanya Ingram, 52, claimed NYPD officers wrongly collared her following a car accident at the intersection of Second Ave. and E. 120th St. in East Harlem on the afternoon of Feb. 26, 2013.
Ingram was scared of the other driver so she “picked up a small metal pipe that she had in her car and exited the car, gesturing to (the other driver) to back away with her free hand. At no time did Ms. Ingram swing the pipe, nor did she ever attempt to strike (the other driver),” according to the Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit.
Cops got to the scene around 45 minutes later and spoke extensively with the other driver.
While Ingram tried to explain she’s deaf and tell her side of the story — typing a note on her phone asking for an interpreter — they “expressed visible annoyance” and “appeared to be mocking her use of gestures,” her lawsuit, filed in February, said.
“You did not understand me. That’s not right. I know she’s lying to you. How can I tell you my story? I want my rights. Call interpreter,” her note said.
Ingram didn’t know what was going on when the cops started to arrest her. She became “extremely frightened and utterly bewildered as to the reason for her arrest, began crying and repeatedly tried to audibly shout, “Why?,’” the suit alleged.
Authorities held Ingram for 24 hours — and they never gave her an interpreter, even though it’s required under the law. Ingram faced four misdemeanors — menacing, harassment, resisting arrest and criminal possession of a weapon — but prosecutors dropped all charges in July 2013, the suit said.
The NYPD deferred comment to the Law Department. “Settling this case was in the city’s best interest,” a spokesman for the city Law Department said of the agreement.
Ingram’s lawyer declined to comment.Opal Gordon, who is deaf and speech-impaired, sued the department in December 2015. She claimed that cops denied her an interpreter after locking her up overnight.