Yonkers considering $85K payout in cop misconduct suit


Ernie Garcia, elgarcia

The Yonkers City Council considers $85,000 for man claiming he was falsely arrested by Yonkers cops
The Yonkers City Council is considering an $85,000 payment to a man who alleged he was falsely arrested by Yonkers police officers after he filed a complaint about the cops.
At its Dec. 9 meeting the council is expected to vote on the resolution paying $85,000 to Danny Squicciarini, who sued the city in 2012.
Squicciarini alleged in his federal civil rights complaint that two Yonkers police officers illegally arrested, harassed and strip-searched him in retaliation for unsuccessfully trying to file a complaint against them five months earlier.
Squicciarini claimed in the court papers that he was driving into a parking lot at the Cross County Shopping Center when an unmarked black SUV blocked his car and two plainclothes officers hopped out without identifying themselves, ordering him and his friend to step out of their vehicle.
The officers patted the pair down and searched Squicciarini's car without permission, finding his textbooks and a fishing knife, which one of the officers pocketed and refused to give back before driving off.
The officers were identified in the suit as "Detective DellaDonna" and "Detective DeVito."
Squicciarini and his friend immediately drove to the city's Second Police Precinct to lodge a complaint, he said, but a desk sergeant refused to file one without names or badge numbers, even after Squicciarini gave detailed descriptions.
Other officers suggested the two plainclothes officers might have been federal agents or state police, the suit claims.
One night five months later, Squicciarini claimed he was meeting friends in a Central Avenue parking lot when the same two officers pulled up and, recognizing him, searched his car again — this time finding an unlit marijuana cigarette.
Squicciarini was arrested and charged with criminal marijuana possession, his suit stated, and harassed on his way to getting processed.
Staff writer Colin Gustafson contributed to this report.