'Untrustworthy' Bed-Stuy Cops Cost City $900K: Records And Report

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — Bed-Stuy cops on a Brooklyn District Attorney list of potentially untrustworthy NYPD officers have cost the city at least $900,000 in lawsuit payouts, according to court data and reports.

Among them are three who currently stand accused of tasing a local father into a heart attack as his son begged them to stop.

Seven officers from Bed-Stuy's 79th and 81st precincts are named in two lists of 52 officers whose credibility is deemed questionable by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office and city judges, released by Gothamist and WNYC Wednesday.

Records from The Legal Aid Society's police misconduct database CAPstat show three 79th Precinct and four 81st Precinct cops were named in 29 lawsuits that cost the city more than $900,001. The lists were obtained through a Freedom Of Information Law request made by Gothamist,

The list of 79th Precinct officers whose credibility has been called into question includes Brian Alexander, Conway Hughes and Richard Danese, who pleaded guilty to attacking a 14-year-old boy and leaving him half-naked in a Staten Island marsh in 2009 and have since been sued five times in cases that CAPstat data show cost the city $257,500.

Three 81st Precinct police officers — Vaughan Ettienne (a body-builder reportedly suspended for steroid use) Ryan Galvin, and Mark Xylas — are tied to a federal suit, filed in 2015, from the Greene family who accused them of putting one son in a chokehold, punching another to the ground, and tasering a father until he suffered a heart attack.

Ettienne is the only Bed-Stuy cop to appear on the District Attorney's list of seven officers they will not call to testify. The second list contains 45 officers whose credibility has been called into question by judges.

Attorney Richard Washington told Patch he was not surprised to see Ettienne's name on the list, which he was grateful the Brooklyn District Attorney's office released.

"The best thing about this is is people who risk losing their freedom don't have to worry about any of the officers giving false testimony," said Washington, who hopes to present the list as evidence.

"I sincerely hope the presiding judge will allow me to introduce this evidence that bears directly on their credibility," he said. "To the extent of the city's disregard to the lack of credibility of these officers, I hope the trial court won't."

The fourth 81st Precinct officer deemed untrustworthy, Diery Louis, has been sued five times and three cases concluded with payouts totaling $245,000, CAPstat data show.

Gothamist reports the city's District Attorney's offices keep the two lists to fulfill a legal obligation to turn over information about police witnesses' credibility.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said he released the lists to strengthen the public's trust in the criminal justice system after consulting with the city's Law Department.

“This is not an indictment of the thousands of dedicated officers who work in our communities and with us in partnership every day to keep the people of Brooklyn safe," said Gonzalez. "Our job is to contend with this complex reality and to make the best determinations in every case.”

The NYPD responded to Patch's request for comment by affirming the importance of its Adverse Credibility Committee, founded in 2016 to review officers in question, and noting the cops on the second list might not have purposefully erred when giving testimony.

"Often, these findings are the result of insufficient preparation for testimony of the officer or the judge substituting her perception of the facts for the officer’s firsthand knowledge," said spokesperson Detective Sophia Mason. "Additionally, there is no mechanism to appeal a finding of adverse credibility against one of our officers."

Officers found to have possibly lied intentionally are referred to the Internal Affairs Bureau for investigation and can face discipline or perjury charges, Mason said.