We've seen some egregious
examples of NYPD officers overstepping their duties to teach law-abiding
citizens cruel lessons about carrying their ID at all times, criticizing
stop-and-frisk, or daring to photograph a cop in public. The NY Times brings us
the latest example of vindictiveness with a badge: officers arrested two
professors who called 911 after one was suffering a routine medical emergency,
despite them not doing anything wrong. "He said he needed to teach me the
lesson that you are never allowed to touch a police officer," explained
anthropology professor Suzanne LaFont.
LaFont and her husband Karl
Anders Peltomaa, a professor of physics and math at The Art Institute of New
York, were at their home on West 83rd Street last April when Peltomaa had a bad
reaction to medication he was taking (he had undergone open-heart surgery a few
days earlier). LaFont called 911, telling them they needed an ambulance and her
husband was "freaking out," worried about his heart.
The couples' dog escaped the
apartment when Officer Anthony Giambra first arrived; LaFont chased after the
dog, and when she returned, she found her husband inexplicably against a wall
being handcuffed. LaFont instinctively touched the officer’s shoulder and
yelled at him to stop; she was arrested as well.
Giambra later claimed that
Peltomaa was an "emotionally disturbed person" who “indicated that he
was willing to be placed in handcuffs for his protection.” But he also said
that Peltomaa fought back, kicking him in the groin and shin. He also claimed
that LaFont grabbed him for a full minute. The couple denies those charges
completely; Peltomaa says he didn't fight the officer, was confused why he was
being handcuffed to go to the hospital, and says the officer shoved him face
down on the tile floor, splitting open his chin and dislocating his thumb.
Peltomaa ended up spending two
days in St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center with five stitches in his chin and
electronic monitors keeping tabs on his ailing heart. LaFont was locked up for
19 hours before she was brought before a judge. The couple refused to take any
plea deals, and fought up until this week to be totally exonerated.
That happened this week when
Judge Steven M. Statsinger ruled that cops mishandled the call and injured an
already sick man: “Defendant’s motion describes facts so extreme and unusual
that this can truly be deemed sui generis,” Judge Statsinger wrote in his
decision.
“I don’t think I can forgive
what they did,” Peltomaa said. “I am continuously terrified I am going to meet
this officer.”
