The five young men suing the city and the Bronx cop who pulled a gun on them after they threw a snowball at him deserve $700,000 each for false arrest and malicious prosecution, their lawyer said in closing arguments at a Bronx civil trial Tuesday.
Jurors didn’t reach a verdict in about an hour of deliberations Tuesday and will continue Wednesday.
NYPD Sgt. Adonis Ramirez, 34, was slapped with the suit by the five men when video surveillance contradicted the story he told responding cops after he drew his gun and had them arrested.
The five — Anthony Aquino, 19, Manuel Rondon, 22, Johnathan Rodriguez, 26, Christian Perez, 23, and Ariel Lopez, 21 — should get up to $700,000 each for false arrest, assault, battery, and malicious prosecution, plus more for punitive damages, said their attorney, Jeffrey Zeichner.
Only Ramirez could be hit with punitive damages — not the NYPD or the city.
“Officer Ramirez is apparently having trouble keeping track of all the false statements he’s given over the years,” Zeichner said in his closing argument, adding that when Ramirez realized he would have to testify before the Internal Affairs Bureau, he thought, “I know what I’ll do, I’ll make some stuff up. Nobody’s going to be believe these kids. I’m a police officer.”
City attorney Stephen Kim shot back in his closing, saying Ramirez “took a stand that day,” adding that the cop had probable cause to make an arrest and that the plaintiffs just want money for clothes, dinner and movies. The men were arrested after the February 2010 incident and hit with charges including menacing a police officer, but all charges were dropped after the surveillance footage was revealed.