A special investigative grand jury will examine evidence in
the Brooklyn case of a 24-year-old male
claiming to have been sodomized by a group of five police officers with a police
radio antenna some two weeks ago.
Michael Mineo, 24, claims to have been subjected to police
brutality on October 15, inside a Brooklyn subway station, when five police
officers, one of them a transit bureau officer, approached him, attacked him
for no reason and sexually assaulted him with what he believes to have been a
radio antenna.
He checked into Brookdale
University Hospital
and Medical Center, where he spent four days and
received treatment for severe abdominal pain and rectal injuries, his lawyer,
Kevin Mosley, said. Mineo returned last week to hospital with a stomach
abscess, related to the attack, the lawyer said. His medical records have not
been made public yet.
Police officials said Mineo, who works at a tattoo parlor in
Brooklyn, was arrested on the afternoon of Oct.
15 because he was smoking marijuana. When officers approached him, he tried to
escape by running into the subway. They followed him and he resisted arrest. After
issuing him a summons he was released.
Authorities also say witnesses at the scene do not support
Mineo’s claims of being assaulted – the witnesses said they did not see either
of the police officers holing a baton or radio. Two witnesses did say that they
heard Mineo scream he was being sodomized and tasered but the police officers
were doing no such thing. Mineo was issued a summons for disorderly conduct, a
police spokesperson said.
The locker of one of the five officers accused was searched one
day after the alleged Oct. 15 attack on Mineo and a baton and radio antenna
were seized and processed for evidence. DNA tests did not reveal any organic
matter. Results from more sophisticated DNA tests are pending.
The four police officers remain on active duty. They still
have their guns and shields. They were given desk jobs Monday to shield them
from the media, reports the New York Daily News quoting officials. The NYPD
transit cop arrived after the alleged assault and is considered a witness. All
four officers are assigned to the 71st Precinct.
Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes issued a statement
Monday, announcing that a special investigative grand jury is to be convened at
his order, based on his own investigation so far and review of medical
evidence.
The police Internal Affairs Bureau is also investigating.
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