NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - The City of New York and its police department and officers are facing a civil rights lawsuit from Raymond Green, a man who alleges he was unlawfully stopped, questioned, searched and arrested in December 2019.
The suit was filed March 15 with the New York Supreme Court by attorney Sameer Nath of Sim and Depaola, LLP.
The suit alleges that on the evening of Dec. 5, 2019, Green was with friends in a lawfully parked vehicle at the intersection of East 115th Street and Lexington Avenue, occupying the driver’s seat. Following an exchange that allegedly involved a forgotten pack of cigarettes and a former occupant of the vehicle that approached the vehicle to retrieve it, the suit alleges officers exited unmarked police vehicles and approached Green.
The suit alleges that officers engaged in unlawful questioning of Green regarding illegal activity without reasonable suspicion of illegal activity. It also alleges that they detained and handcuffed Green “in an excessively tight fashion” without probable cause.
The suit also alleges that officers Bryan Walker, Marc Hannon, Kevin Earl, Sheila Ramos and up to 10 unidentified officers all fabricated allegations regarding what they had witnessed prior to approaching the vehicle Green was in. It also alleges destruction or corruption of evidence, including body camera footage, that would have exonerated Green, and that their motives included his ethnicity as an African American.
The suit seeks monetary compensation for 23 separate causes of action and punitive damages, according to court documents.