By Selim Algar
Moving day ended in a jail cell
for two Brooklyn men who were busted for “burglarizing” a building — when they
were only trying to haul a new resident’s stuff inside, a lawsuit alleges.
Cops arrested Iouri
Pakhomtzchik, a professional mover, and Sergey Menejyan, who was hanging out
with the moving crew, on March 20, 2012, after a woman falsely claimed they
tried to break into her apartment, according to the federal suit and
Pakomtzchik’s attorney, David Zelman.
The woman told officers she had
seen the moving man and his pal running away after burglarizing her home.
Cops didn’t find any of the
woman’s belongings with the men. But she also claimed she was missing cash, and
Menejyan had $590 on him, Zelman said.
The officers decided to haul
both men away on charges of burglary, trespassing and criminal possession of
stolen property, the suit says.
Both spent 12 hours in jail at
the 60th Precinct station house before being transported for arraignment, the
suit says.
Pakhomtzchik was released on
his own recognizance, while Menejyan was hit with $2,000 bail and forced to
spend eight additional hours at Rikers Island before getting sprung.
All charges against
Pakhomtzchik were dropped after two quick court appearances. Menejyan, however,
had to appear 10 times before his case was dismissed.
Zelman said the woman’s case
crumbled after she failed to adequately identify the men she claimed to have
seen running from her apartment.
Also, Zelman said Menejyan was
able to prove in court that the money he was carrying was from his tax refund.
The two men sued the city,
Officers James Riordan, Viktoriya Sadovskaya, Matthew Brennan and John Esprey
and several other unidentified officers for false arrest and a other
civil-rights violations in January.
Menejyan agreed to settle his
case with the city for $7,500 last week, according to a court filing.
Pakhomtzchik refused to accept
the same sum and is pursuing the case in hope of landing a higher payout, court
papers show.
Neither man would comment on
the case. The city Law Department declined to
John Geer
