Aflurry of frantic 911 calls made by the ex-girlfriend of Gov. Paterson’s top aide reveal startling new details about the harrowing night that wound up bringing down the governor.
Sherr-una Booker placed three emergency phone calls from her Powell Avenue apartment in the Williamsbridge section of The Bronx — including one in which she says her burly boyfriend, David Johnson, who “works for the governor,” had roughed her up, according to sources familiar with her story.
Paterson, Johnson and top State Police officials are now at the center of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s probe into whether they tried to persuade Booker to drop the case.
The explosive incident finally led the embattled Paterson — an ardent supporter of domestic-violence victims in the past — to announce Friday that he would not seek election.
The 911 tapes are key pieces of evidence in Cuomo’s investigation, sources said. As The Post reported, Cuomo has subpoenaed the NYPD for its records.
PATERSON FEELS BETRAYED BY ASSEMBLY SPEAKER SHELDON SILVER
FREDRIC U. DICKER: LOBBYIST’S ‘BAD’ ADVICE
SCANDAL GIVES DOMESTIC-VIOLENCE BILL NEW LIFE
“911. What’s the emergency?” the dispatcher said, responding to Booker’s first call around 10 p.m.
“I am the victim of domestic violence,” replied Booker, an assistant director at Lincoln Hospital and mother of a 13-year-old boy.
Clearly unnerved, Booker said Johnson ripped off her Halloween lingerie costume after she refused to change it, shoved her into a mirror and then ripped a phone from the wall when she tried to call police.
“And he choked me!” she insisted.
Johnson could be heard in the background, chiming in:
“No, I didn’t . . . I did not choke you!”
“Yes, you did!” Booker barked. “You choked me!”
The verbal sparring lasted a few seconds. The dispatcher then told Booker that cops would be sent.
But this was a busy Halloween night.
Booker called again about four minutes later.
“Where are they?” she asked.
She seemed calmer, saying Johnson was gone from her apartment.
“He’s left,” she said.
Then she added, “He works for the governor” without elaborating.
Assured that the cops would be coming, Booker hung up. But 40 minutes later, a more anxious Booker called again about Johnson, who has had previous altercations with women.
“I am afraid he may come back,” she said. “He’s big . . . He’s 6-feet-7.”
Within minutes, two 47th Precinct cops arrived.
By all accounts, they did not know Booker’s boyfriend worked for Paterson, and Booker never mentioned it to them, according to sources.
If the officers had known, they would have been required to call for a supervisor, unlike the NYPD emergency operator, who is not required to do so.
The cops logged the domestic incident and told Booker she could get an order of protection against Johnson.
Two days later, she did.
By then, she said, the State Police — who had no jurisdiction in the case — had called and were harassing her to drop the charges. State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt has said, “We just gave her options.”
On Jan. 26, as The Post reported, Booker, who makes $57,996 a year, bought a 2010 Lexus RX 350 for $40,000.
Ten days later, a day before another hearing, Booker spoke with Paterson.
The next day, she was a no-show in court, and a judge dismissed the case.
Paterson has said he called Booker just to see if she needed anything.
During his tenure, the governor, whose wife is a domestic-violence counselor, has championed legislation in the name of its victims, including signing into law a bill that widened protection for people in dating relationships.
As he left his home yesterday, a somber Paterson said, “I feel pretty good.”