Brooklyn Community Board Manager Used Ex's Uber Account To Stalk, Harass Her: DA

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — The long-time district manager of Community Board 6 — which covers most of Brooklyn from Red Hook and Columbia Waterfront through Prospect Park West — was arrested earlier this month and charged with stalking and harassment in later March after his ex-girlfriend said he used her Uber account to follow her to a Bed-Stuy hotel.

And on Friday, the manager, Craig Hammerman, who has been at the helm of CB6 for more than 20 years, violated a restraining order when he followed her to a Park Slope bar and sat down next to her, telling her it was for her "safety," according to a complaint filed in Kings County Criminal Court by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. He was arrested a second time.

Reached Monday afternoon at the CB6 office in Cobble Hill, Hammerman referred Patch to his attorney. The attorney, Joyce David, told Patch the claims are "absolutely not true" and called Hammerman's accuser "paranoid" and said she had been "behaving erratically."

DNA Info first broke the story about Hammerman's arrests Monday afternoon.

Patch does not generally name alleged victims in domestic incidents.

The legal issues for Hammerman began around March 26 and 27, when Hammerman's girlfriend was at the hotel, the complaint says. That's when she got a call from the front desk saying that a relative had called and said she "can come home any time," the complaint says. Then, when she was checking out of the hotel, the front desk told her that an Uber driver had called to say she had left property inside of the car, the complaint says.

And when she was eating breakfast at the hotel, the complaint says, she saw Hammerman standing in the window of the restaurant, and he ran away.

Hammerman texted the woman and told her he had downloaded Uber onto his phone, accessed her account and used it to find her at the hotel, the complaint says. He also admitted to being the family member and Uber driver who called the front desk, the complaint says.

He then texted her that they should go to couples therapy, according to the complaint.

"A bunny does not go with a mountain lion," she allegedly replied.

His response: "A video clip from a Monty Python movie depicting a rabbit being killed," the complaint said.

On April 2, a week after her stay at the hotel, Hammerman was arrested. He was charged at the NYPD's 81st Precinct office with stalking and harassment, according to the DA's office. He also signed a restraining order she took out against him the next day, the complaint said.

"He was worried about her. That’s not stalking," David, Hammerman's attorney, told Patch about the hotel incidents. "There was nothing stalking about it. It was the middle of the night, and he knew that she was behaving 'erratically,' let's use that word."

"You can’t just do this to my client and think it’s OK," the attorney added.

And about the bunny text, David said: "She had texted him something, and she’s a Monty Python fan, and he texted her a video where the bunny is the aggressor that he thought she would like because she’s a Monty Python fan."

A little less than a week after he turned himself in, on the night of Friday, April 7, the ex-girlfriend was sitting at The Gate, a bar on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, the complaint says.

That's when Hammerman approached her and sat down, telling her he has been following her for her "safety," the complaint says. Hammerman was arrested again at the bar and charged with criminal contempt for violating the restraining order.

David said Hammerman is a regular at the bar and "she never goes there except with him. She doesn’t live there. She doesn’t know anybody there. When he saw her, he was going to leave, and she said she’d leave."

"And then she apparently went outside and called the cops," David continued. "I think she set him up. He thought she was leaving, so he stayed."

David suggested that the ex-girlfriend goaded Hammerman into violating the restraining order.

"He has been involved with her for probably over a year, he cares about her," she said. "But when she gets a certain way, she lashes out. She gets paranoid. And we’re worried about her."

"She texted him a bunch of messages after he was charged" the first time, Davis continued, "when she knew there was an ordered protection, which would result in him being re-arrested if he replied to the text messages. And the text messages wanted a reply."

Community Board 6 Chair Sayar Lonial did not return a message left by Patch at his NYU office.

Hammerman is due back in court on May 2. The next CB6 general board meeting is scheduled for April 12.

You can read the complaints in full below.

Image: Patch File Photo

Note: An earlier version of this story included embedded court documents that included the alleged victim's name. Patch has redacted the name and re-embedded the documents above.