Four Bronx buddies facing year in jail after 'hitting' off-duty transit cop - with a snowball!

[LynneSin]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/03/10/2010-03-10_this_has_snowballed_outta_control__pals_busted_for_beaning_cop_with_snow.html

Four Bronx buddies are facing a year in jail for criminal possession of a weapon - a snowball that hit an off-duty transit cop.

The young men say they were horsing around in the late February storm when an errant snowball smacked Officer Adonis Ramirez in the leg.

Next thing they knew, he was waving a gun at them and calling for backup. Now they're facing a slew of charges and readying a $10 million suit against the city.

"When I was in Central Booking, people asked me what I was locked up for, and I said a snowball," said Johnathan Rodriguez, 22. "Everyone started laughing."

The NYPD doesn't think it's a joke.

A police source said the cop, who was in street clothes, was barraged with snowballs and taunts and chased down the street "in a threatening manner."

The Bronx district attorney has no plans to drop charges against the four friends, three of whom have prior arrests for minor incidents.

"You would think that the NYPD would focus on real crimes and not on young men playing in the snow during a nor'easter," said lawyer Neil Wollerstein.

He's planning to hit the city with a $10 million false arrest and malicious prosecution suit on behalf of the four and a 15-year-old pal who was arrested but had the charges dropped in Family Court

You know, I could possible see fining the kids for hitting passerbys with a snowball. Sure it's all fun to play in the snow and throw snowballs, but you should not throw them at strangers who happen to be walking by. But what the DA is doing - let him explain why there is a $10 million false arrest being thrown at him & the courts because of this stupid lawsuit. From what I read most of these kids are in the local community college, so it seems like they were just having fun. But put them in jail for a year, ruin their record and we're just creating 4 more potential thugs in the system.

[Name removed]

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[Iggo]

2. Thank gawd they didn't hit him with breast milk.

Then they'd get the death penalty.

Assaulting an officer my ass!

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. A simple enough solution -

the cop simply needs to provide the snowball as evidence of his story.

[LynneSin]

4. Seriously - can he prove they had the weapon

:rofl:

I mean don't most crimes involving guns have the weapon as evidence

Case Closed.

I suspect this will be an episode of Law & Order: CSI Alaska in the near future.

[blueamy66]

5. Another asshole cop

on a power trip.

[LynneSin]

6. Actually it seems more like someone in the DA's office on a power trip too.

That lawyer should recognize the joke with this lawsuit and either settle out of court or dismiss the case entirely.

Instead the DA's office says they plan on pursuing this crime. Great 4 more kids that will be ruined in our criminal justice system over something really stupid. This is almost an allegory for the problem with marijuana prosecution in this country.

[Raineyb]

7. I find the DA's are loathe to admit they're wasting time and money.

Not to make it sound as though I have so much personal experience but I notice that even when there's a metric butt-load of evidence that they've had their head up their ass they still insist that they were right. Their arrogance is as bad as the cops.

I had a rather annoying run-in with the NYPD because my sister's former mother-in-law is a lying bitch. It cost me 2500 dollars to have the drop the charges because after 90 days they couldn't get up enough evidence to make the charges stick. (Had the lazy, shiftless, good-for-nothing, power-tripping NYPD bothered to do so much as a preliminary investigation they would have seen the woman had a big incentive to lie as she was injecting herself into a custody dispute but I digress)

I had my record expunged and sued the bitch for my legal fees. And won.

[Echo In Light]

8. +1

[hfojvt]

9. it is the article which is crap

the boys are facing "up to a year". They will no doubt just get a fine and community service, just like your average speeding ticket which can also include a maximum penalty of "up to 90 days" that almost nobody ever really gets. Apparently they do not want to plead down and their lawyer thinks they can play hardball and use publicity to evade responsibility. If the officer's story is true - that they chased him down the street, then it does not sound like an innocent accident or my idea of fun. It's only fun for the bullies, not for the stranger that they are assaulting. This time they picked the wrong victim. The kids are not gonna be ruined by a misdemeanor and a fine and community service.

[Raineyb]

10. Sounds like the cops are full of shit.

You've got 4 boys rallying one another to go after the cop in Spanish and only one actually speaks the language?

It's bullshit.

And yes they are facing up to a year. You have no idea what the hell the judge will sentence them to. So it's not crap. But your need to bend over backwards to take the side of the police is noted.

[LynneSin]

12. the cop was off duty and not in uniform

so there is a good chance they may not have known it was a copy they hit with the snowballs.

[PVnRT]

14. Shhhhhhh, don't ruin his fantasy

[Raineyb]

16. And how does that change the lie he's telling?

If a complaint claims that a group of people are speaking a language and it turns out that only ONE person can actually speak the language. The story is suspect.

And the NYPD lies like they breathe so I have no qualms about not giving them the benefit of the doubt based on the article.

Did you even bother to read it?

[hfojvt]

13. actually I do have some idea

experience shows that it is very, very rare for people to get the maximum sentence. So there is a huge difference between "facing a year" and "facing UP to a year". That is a fact. It's not bending over backwards. I have not read that deeply to know anything about Spanish. I only read what was posted here. Unless I was there or know the people personally, I have no way of knowing who is telling the truth in their version of events. That's why I said IF. If the cop is telling the truth, then ...

At no time did I declare with any kind of certainty that the cop WAS telling the truth. Given the way most people are, probably everybody is misremembering, embellishing and trying to cover their tails. Nobody wants to step up and say "I messed up" because so many people are so harshly judgemental, like people here want to be harshly judgemental towards the Cop or the DA.

I think the whole thing is a molehill that only needs a few slaps on the wrist for whoever is the guilty party.

[Raineyb]

17. That doesn't mean that the article is crap. That people have gotten lighter sentences

doesn't change the fact that they do in fact face the year. You claimed it was crap based on that and the fact is that the article stated it correctly. They do face the year, whether or not they actually are sentenced to that year would depend on whether or not this case continues, what the verdict is, and what the eventual sentence is. But to call the article crap because there's a chance they won't be sentenced to the year if convicted is spin on your part.

[hfojvt]

22. they simply don't face a year

you cannot tell the difference between the two statements "They face a year" which sounds like they have already been sentenced to a year and "they face up to a year" which means they don't really face anything until they are convicted and sentenced.

The headline is crap. It is deliberately worded to generate outrage. Outrage that kids are going to jail for a year for a snowball fight. Which would be outrageous if that happened, but everybody knows that is not gonna happen, including the sensationalist who wrote the article. But you don't sell papers unless you can get people interested in your stories, and generating outrage generates interest. Plus the defense attorney has a vested interest in generating outrage and trying to put political pressure on the DA.

That's not my spin. That's me calling it like I see it. I think it is bogus journalism and being played by a defense attorney. I don't buy it. If you wanna buy it, that is your right, but you don't need to direct outrage at me for not buying the same thing that you are buying. There don't have to be good guys and bad guys, only you and me and we just disagree.

[LynneSin]

11. True - but the fact this is even going to court is a joke

and the DA won't back down from the charges. The boys are filing a countersuit against the DA's office. Is this really something that should be clogging our criminal system?

[hfojvt]

15. it is going to court, probably because the defendents won't settle

they think they can counter-attack and use publicity to avoid any penalty. If they are guilty, Again, IF, I think they should pay a penalty and not get to laugh it off as "just boys having fun" or "it's only a snowball". Which seems to be their defense.

[Raineyb]

18. Not settle, take the plea. This is a criminal case not a civil case.

And "settling" has consequences which they obviously don't feel they should be subjected to.

And a Bronx jury just might let them off.

[PVnRT]

20. Why should they settle?

You seem to be presuming guilt.

[hfojvt]

21. well why should the DA settle

you seem to be presuming innocence. I am saying that the DA should not settle if they are in fact guilty.

[PVnRT]

24. Um....American jurisprudence is based on the presumption of innocence

It's up to the DA to actually prove his case, which he hasn't. On the other hand, the way you view our justice system is.....scary.

[hfojvt]

25. right, it is really scary to think that some people might be guilty

especially when they are apprehended at the scene of their crime. "It's up to the DA to prove his/her case" and yet the whole argument here seems to be that the DA shouldn't even bother to try.

[blueamy66]

23. I agree.

Shouldn't the DA's office pass on this one?

Our tax dollars are already being wasted on other stuff....Geez

And the marijuana prosecution? Don't get me started. What a waste of time, money and manpower.

[Soylent Brice]

19. utterly ridiculous. asshole cop. asshole DA.