A West Harlem police officer is free without bail after pleading not guilty in New York Supreme Court to allegedly creating false paperwork in a drug arrest. Officer Isaias Alicea is accused of illegally arresting two men last February and later lying about witnessing drug deal between the pair.
According to a New York Times report, Alicea, 28, was indicted last week for omitting the truth in his paperwork submitted for the case. Via his attorney Angelo Macdonald, stuck to his claims that he saw a drug transaction occur in the lobby of a building at the Manhattanville Houses.
Prosecutors used surveillance video to debunk the claim, which show that the men never had contact with one another. Alicea faces ten felony counts of offering false paperwork for filing and two counts of misdemeanor misconduct.
“We rightfully trust our police officers to report their activities truthfully,” Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance offered in a statement. “To falsely accuse anyone of a drug sale is not only unacceptable, it is a crime.”
Macdonald is valiantly defending his client, saying that the video is not sufficient enough evidence to charge Alicea. They’re claiming there was no drug sale. My client says there was,” said MacDonald. “But the videos are not the best quality, they’re taken from a distance and there are different angles.”
Alicea, a seven-year veteran of the New York Police Department, is slated to appear in court on March 20.
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Photos: DNAinfo.com
