Bronx, NY – A 67-year-old resident of Castle Hill Houses in the Bronx filed a federal lawsuit against the NYPD Friday for her 2012 arrest for calling 311 too much.
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NY Daily News (http://nydn.us/1CuHAeC) reports Arles Cepeda called 311 44 times in 15 months, and called 911 twice to report suspected drug use, excessive noise and broken elevators. The calls started when she received no response from the building’s management.
Detective Theodore Stefatos, who at the time was a narcotics investigator, arrived at Cepeda’s apartment on Dec. 4, 2012, with two other officers. He told her they found no evidence of drug dealing in the apartment above her, then handcuffed and arrested her.
Cepeda was charged with offering a false instrument for filing – a misdemeanor – and released hours later with a desk appearance ticket and a warning from Stefatos, who told her if she continued to call the hotline, he would take her to the psych unit at Jacobi Hospital, according to Cepeda.
Her lawyer, Samuel Cohen, said when Cepeda showed up for her court date in February 2013, she was told there wasn’t a case and no docket number, most likely because police never forwarded paperwork to the DA’s office.
The lawsuit claims Cepeda’s civil and First Amendment rights were violated.
Information taken from NY Daily News: