WHITE PLAINS
Police in Mount Vernon and Yonkers are being sued for allegedly physically abusing a woman and three boys in two separate cases.
Their attorney, Jonathan Lovett, is seeking $1 million in punitive damages for each of those plaintiffs and $500,000 in compensatory damages. In both cases, the cops allegedly cursed and yelled racial slurs.
“It’s America 2009, it’s unbelievable,” Lovett said.
In a February 6 incident, it is alleged that a white Mount Vernon officer pulled over a black female motorist for a traffic violation and punched her in the face, dragged her from her car, slammed her head against the vehicle and forced her to the ground. A sergeant arrived and allegedly cursed at her and struck her in the head with a police baton.
In a February 28 incident, white Mount Vernon Police and Yonkers Police officers the latter with a K-9, responded to an alarm at the Mount Vernon Middle School where they allegedly beat three black boys, one 12 years old and the other two, 13 years of age. The court papers allege the officers yelled racial slurs and physically abused the boys.
Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton Young, Jr. issued a statement Tuesday that excessive force “is not tolerated by me or anyone in my administration.” He warned, though, that if the purpose of the lawsuit is to divide the city or the police department, “that goal is not one that will be realized.”
Young also had a message to the police officers in the city. “If you see anything going on in the department that you don’t like or that you have concerns over go to your superiors to report it,” he said. “If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, I have an open door policy. Come to me.”
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http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6716723
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