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This Week In Law Enforcement: Did The Cops Get The Right Rapist?

August 8, 2011 in Brooklyn, NYPD, Park Slope, sex and drugs | Permalink

“If TV has taught me anything, it’s never the first suspect” Gogo Gowanus

UPDATE TO MY UPDATE: Just as I suspected. Per the Post:

Charges against a Brooklyn livery driver who was arrested in one rape and identified as a suspect in three other sex assaults are expected to be dropped after cops accepted his alibi and the real pervert struck again while the cabby was in jail, sources told The Post.

“They made a huge mistake and stopped my life for no reason,” William Giraldo told The Post.

Still, his ordeal may not be over — the 24-year-old faces the threat of deportation for overstaying his visa unless his recent marriage to a US citizen convinces a judge to let him stay…

Sources told The Post that cops decided his alibi was legit, and he’s no longer a suspect in any of the assaults.

But Giraldo didn’t walk free that day — he was taken to an immigration jail in New Jersey for having overstayed a one-year visa issued in 1999, when he emigrated from Colombia.

But he was released on $7,500 bond on July 13. Shortly afterward, he married his fiancée, Sondra. The wedding had originally been scheduled for June 8 — the day he was arraigned.

Sources said that although Giraldo might be deported because of his illegal status, his marriage to a American citizen could lead an immigration judge to cut him a break.

6/30 UPDATE: Yesterday, the NYPD announced that a June 25 rape, also in Sunset Park, matches the MO of at least three other attacks in the neighborhood since March. I have a very sick feeling in my gut about this. Why is William Giraldo (arraigned on what was to have been his wedding day) still at Rykers? Given the almost identical nature of the crimes, might not the victim have been mistaken in identifying Giraldo? It really fits into a pattern of now five attacks.

Not to be a pain here but do I have to be concerned when Ziggy licks me awake to take him out for an emergency pit stop at 3am? Because I’ve got this bad feeling—call it lack of trust—that the police may not necessarily have arrested the right guy.

First off, when i see “citywide manhunt” in the same sentence as “Dunkin’ Donuts,” my mind goes places: espesh when it’s in a Ray Kelly press conference. And when the law and order-loving New York Post is also dubious, my own doubts kind of mushroom.

The fact that the accused and his distraught fiance were supposed to be getting married in Florida on what turned out to be the day of his arraignment gives me a moment of pause. Although… it’s not entirely out of the realm of probability that a dude might relieve pre-wedding jitters by raping a complete stranger in their vestibule. Fine, I’ll give this one to the cops.

But, according to the Post…

But two men who reportedly got a look at the attacker in the first assault, on March 20 in Park Slope, say they don’t believe Giraldo was the man he saw.

“The guy they got ain’t the guy from here,” said a witness identified only as Ray, who insists he saw the perpetrator up close. “I’m 99 percent sure.”

He and another witness, Donald Harrington, said cops had still not asked them to view a lineup that includes Giraldo.

Also…

All four victims viewed him in line-ups at the Brooklyn Special Victims Unit — but he was ID’ed only by Saturday’s rape victim.

Oh man, I don’t know. But I’m not convinced.  And while we’re here, how come rich alleged rapists trying to flee the country at the time of arrest get to live large while working stiff alleged rapists get stuck at Rykers?

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Today in Law Enforcement: Brooklyn Mom Arrested At Prospect Park Birthday Party

July 7, 2011 in Brooklyn, cops, Law and Order, NYPD, Parenting, Park Slope, Parks and Recreation | 13 comments

UPDATE: Brooklyn Mom Dad/Party Host Arrested For Defending A Guest’s Honor At Prospect Park Birthday Party

“We were at the party. A child (girl 3yo) indeed went missing. She was there with her 6 yo sister. She went missing while handing out pizza slices close to the end of the party. After a few minutes her mother called 911 and cops came. In the meantime after about 15 minutes the girls was found at the other end of long meadow. Police arrived and first it was difficult to explain to the police that she was indeed found. While talking to the mother the police accused the mother of negligence. The hosting father got involved and it spinned out of control. Within short notice eight police cars arrived he got booked and taken away. It was not a pretty scene to see him thrown on street…. Quite a party….

Of course the mother was legally responsible. She went through hell in these minutes. She really didn’t need to be told – in that situation, right on the spot, moments after she was reunited with her daughter – that she has been negligent. She knew it. The police was called to help. After seeing this I will think twice asking police for help….

Not that it matters a bit, but the party included guests – think finance, lawyers – with easy access to lawyers. It will be interesting to see how this will work out.”

I happened upon this sign near the Garfield entrance in Prospect Park just before the park police pulled it down.

Wow, I am dying to know the back story on this one. Here’s the text again in case you can’t see it on the photo:

On June 4, 2011, a little girl went missing from a birthday party at this site around 11 am. Police arrived on scene after this little girl was safely located. Yet, police arrested a parent associated with the party after police accused the little girl’s mother of being negligent.

If you witnessed the police arrest of the parent, would you please be in touch the the parents’ attorney? We would like to collect statements, video, photos from parties who witnessed the police activity.

Please email lawDOTvickersATgmailDOTcom or call 617.945.4783

I’m pretty sure almost every birthday party I’ve ever thrown or attended in the park has featured kids free-roaming long meadow and surrounds.

Where is Lenore Skenazy when Park Slope needs her?

Shit, I could have been arrested at least 18 times by now for my kids’ park birthday parties alone. Fine, I haven’t lost any kids but not for the lack of parental neglect.

Just when I think the 78th can’t surpass themselves for a complete dearth of common sense, they manage to surprise me. If temporarily misplacing your kid at a Prospect Park birthday party can get you arrested, the the local jails are going to full of neglectful, quiche-eating, Sauvignon-Blanc-sipping Park Slope parents before the summer’s out.

Anybody know anything? The lawyer hasn’t answered my calls.

 

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No Park Slope: Honey, I Lost The Car

June 30, 2011 in cars and parking, NYPD, Park Slope | Permalink

I’m not good with cars. Or remembering things. I suck, if you want the truth. My family likes to say that it’s a good thing my head is permanently attached or I’d have left it in a restaurant or subway platform long since. Okay, this is starting to make me think of serial killers. Moving on…

There was the time when my man and I spent two hours wandering the parking lots of Seattle-Tacoma airport in a vain search for our vehicle. And many, many other hours have been spent since circling my own two-block radius pressing on the unlock button in hope of it showing me where we parked the car.

I am certainly not organized enough to write, for instance, locations and times on a post-it note to affix to the fridge.

A friend — who shall remain nameless and untraceable or else — is that person who puts up post-it notes and is organized and shit. And yet, when I ran into her yesterday, she was on the way to the impound lot to pick up her car, which she had reported stolen two weeks before when it wasn’t where the post-it note said it would be.

It had been one of those nights when you circle and circle before finally finding a spot. A Tuesday side spot on a Tuesday night, which had her gloating. She says she wrote a note on her phone before leaving the car (really? wow) and also the fridge post-it telling her when to move it. She swears she wasn’t on anything.

So, the next morning, having left something in the car, she went around the car to where she’d parked. Only the car, which was less than two weeks old and her first, was gone. She walked up and down the block and the next and the next. She says 40 times.

Later that day, she calls her local precinct who, because they ARE supposed to be fighting real crime, initially brush her off thinking she’s forgotten where she parked it. Hours pass but by dint of great persuasive abilities, my friend manages to find a helpful cop to take her report.

I recited my story down to the last identical detail – exact time I parked, address of the spot I pulled into firstand then decided it wasn’t close enough to my house, the mileage, and every personal item that I left in the car. They drove me back to “the scene” basically to look for broken glass (none) and to question the women that sit on folding chairs right across from where I parked 24/7. They of course, saw nothing.

The alarm is sounded, the search is on, insurance company alerted to the theft, etc.

Two weeks later, the car is finally located. On the block it was actually on. No signs of forced entry, broken glass, thievery. And so they towed it. Because my friend deserved it after the trouble she’d put them through. And it was Tuesday, the car being parked on a Tuesday side. She doesn’t know how it escaped notice the Tuesday before.

The reunion:

The dude who came out to help me said “whatsa matta honey – ya forget where ya parked yer car?” This was while he was pinching my cheek, which I let him do because at that moment I knew my car was fine and that I probably deserved condescension and humiliation at the very least.

Good thing you can’t be arrested for being stupid. And I should be in sales, because I convinced my normally skeptical self, an entire precinct, a major insurance company and a host of friends that my car had been jacked.

Drive safely, dear.

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Brooklyn’s Finest: Cops Ignored Roving Rapist Sitch For Months

June 8, 2011 in Brooklyn, Douchebag Database, Law and Order, NYPD, Park Slope, sex and drugs | 3 comments

I’m feeling like a regular muckraker right about now, although Gothamist et al would have realized soon enough that the NYPD wasn’t exactly quick off the mark on our roving rapist manhunt.

I’ve actually been meaning to blog about this for a while and then kind of forgot about it until I saw that the cops had fanned out all over the airwaves and NYC blogosphere yesterday.

Yes, per Park Slope Patch on April 26,

More than a month after a horrifying rape attempt took place on 16th Street, outraged residents of the block say cops did little to investigate the crime.

“The day of the attack, police left as quick as they came,” said Donald Harrington, 44, a 16th Street resident who witnessed the attack from his second floor window and ran out after the would-be rapist. “Then the police didn’t show up until the press came, a month later.”

“I’m not at all happy with the way police handled this,” added neighbor Jim Gallagher, 52. “This guy is still walking around out there.”

A video of attack — which took place on March 20 at 11:30 p.m. between Fourth and Fifth avenues — became widely circulated last week, after a neighbor shared a video of the incident taken by a stationary security camera on his house.

So, yeah, in mid MARCH, a harrowing video captured the attempted rape of a woman on 16th Street in Park Slope. But nobody heard about it until mid APRIL, when it finally came to light after outraged residents of the block went to the press. And the police didn’t do anything about it until NOW.

Great job, Brownie.

Until a year or so ago, I actually thought that the Brooklyn criminal justice system functioned along the lines of Law and Order repeats, which accounted for the sum total of my exposure until that point. I so wish I could tell you how I come by my up-close  knowledge of just how unbelievably screwed up the system is round here but let’s just say, nobody in my family has a criminal or an arrest record ANYMORE.

My takeaway: you actually can get arrested and prosecuted for serious crimes without any investigation or evidence whatsoever before or during and a mountain to show the allegations to be complete and utter bullshit. Something is very, very wrong at the local precincts and the Brooklyn DA’s office. They are fucking morons too.

Besides, apparently when there IS evidence (like say, a surveillance video of your rapist), the police will ignore it anyway. Until the press tells them they shouldn’t do that. And NOW, Ray Kelly and Internal Affairs are going to look into whether the officers who ignored that tape did wrong.

So, my faith is in short supply and yours should be too. As my Sicilian grandpa used to say, “watch where you putta yo feet.”

 

 

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DB Database: Rape Cop Lives in Park Slope?

June 6, 2011 in Douchebag Database, Park Slope, sex and drugs | 2 comments

Little known fact: “piece of shit” has the same acronym as “police officers,” plural.

And I, for one, was not happy to hear that this particular POS above LIVES IN PARK SLOPE. Is there no END to this neighborhood’s infamy?

Apparently not. Except for one little wrinkle. Park Slope does not actually stretch the entire LENGTH OF SOUTH BROOKLYN, folks. This dude lives in Sunset Park. Or, at the very least, GREENWOOD HEIGHTS, if you’re a newbie or a realtor.

As a point of clarification, Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush Avenue to the north, and 15th Street to the south.

Even so, wherever rape cop lives, I can’t think of a more deserving candidate for a public shame campaign. In fact, I think we should bring such campaigns back for other neighborhood offenders, like ones who actually DO live in Park Slope.

This asshole (and maybe THE WIFE too) should have to take out TWITTER AND FACEBOOK accounts and post their regrets every hour for the next five years. He should have to walk around with a billboard. He should have to volunteer at Gay Men’s Health Crisis and Planned Parenthood.

Over at the NY Post, my new favorite commenter joined with Moreno’s wife to inveigh against the unfairness of it all.

Louis Romano: The police academy teaches cuddling. They have cuddling 101, intermediate cuddling and advanced cuddling. They also encourage all cops to return a minimum of three times to check on nearly naked drunk women. It’s part of Bloombergs quality of life thing. It’s a known fact just like catching a STD from toilet seats. Why is everyone picking on good honest cops who never even fixed a parking ticket? Its a shame I tell you, a real shame. Let’s focus on more important stuff like smoking on a beach or park…smokers are the real criminals who must be brought to justice.

And here’s how the “Court of Public Opinion” responded over at Gothamist to the signs…

Random Transplant: The People’s Court is pushing for banishment, it seems.

JDanford: How can he afford Park Slope? I thought POs didn’t make that much money.

XXDesmus: Turns out he lives on my street. Freaking wonderful. I sure feel safe knowing this douche bag lives near me.

MisterMarkDavis: Yeah. It sure sucks to feel like you have no privacy and you could be violated in your own home.

Yeah.  Thumbs up or down on the public shamings? What do YOU think the dude deserves?

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