The former NYPD officer who was convicted of falsely arresting a
Brooklyn man last year was given a slap on the wrist plea deal this week—and it
turns out he was given a deal on THAT plea deal as well. Former officer Diego
Palacio pleaded guilty to the false arrest on Tuesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court
in exchange for his resignation from the NYPD and four days in prison. But he
only spent one night in jail—because, according to the Post, state law mandates
that inmates are to be released on Friday if their discharge date lands on a
weekend. So the man Palacio falsely arrested had to spend three days in jail,
and the officer who actually did something illegal only got a day.
Last year, Palacio accused MTA engineer John Hockenjos of trying
to run him over with his car after Palacio had responded to an argument between
Hockenjos and his neighbor. In his report, Palacio said he was forced "to
jump out of the way to avoid being hit by defendant's vehicle." Hockenjos
was charged with first-degree felony reckless endangerment, and was facing a
maximum sentence of up to seven years. Thankfully, a surveillance camera
captured footage of the incident, and clearly showed that Hockenjos slowly
pulled into the driveway, while the responding cop calmly stood still.
"In my 20 years of legal experience, I've never seen this crystal
clear example of a false arrest," defense attorney Craig Newman said
outside court last year. Palacio, an eight year veteran of the NYPD, was facing
charges of official misconduct, offering a false instrument for filing,
falsifying business records, making an apparently sworn false statement,
perjury and making a punishable false written statement before he took the
deal.
