A New York man is seeking legal action against the NYPD, in what he accuses was a racially charged wrongful arrest. Kenrick Gray filed a lawsuit in the Brooklyn Federal Court against Officer Michael Dargjati for unlawfully taking him into custody, and bragging that he “fried another ni**er.”
Daragjati has a reputation for getting into trouble, and pleaded guilty to federal civil rights violations charges earlier this year. Meanwhile, Gray has also been named as the plaintiff in a separate pending suit against the department for being pulled over and frisked on two separate occasions in 2010. Gray, was stopped by Daragjati on April 15, and was frisked “in a heavy-handed fashion” before being let go. When the 33-year-old complained about the treatment, Daragjati apprehended him on fake charges, as well as resisting arrested. Phone tapping, uncovered a conversation between Daragjati and an associate in which he says “Another ni**er fried, no big deal,” which will likely damage the defense that he had probable cause to arrest Gray. The FBI is also investigating Daragjati for extortion, stemming from an incident in which he threatened someone whom he believed stole his snow plow.
Gray is seeking unspecified damages for the incident, marking the most recent occasion in which the city will have to foot the bill for bad police behavior. In March, the city settled a $57,500 false arrest suit.
Daragjati’s case is the latest in a string of examples of racial discrimination at the hands of the NYPD. As we reported last month, two high-ranking members of the police force are the subject of a federal racial discrimination lawsuit, in which they are believed to have called black suspects “f***ing animal,” among other names. Elsewhere in the city, a black man from Brooklyn was freed after serving more than a year in prison for raping a white woman, despite the fact that she later omitted her claim.
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Photo: New York Daily News
