New York Police Department officer Xavier Gonzalez falsely arrested a black financial planner by the name of Darryl Williams for pickpocketing at 125th st. and Lexington Ave subway station.
What We Know:
- Officer Gonzalez, undercover at the time, wrote a false report stating that Williams stole a cell phone from Anthony Osei on the train.
- Williams worked for the Sanitation Department and was assisting two private clients when he was arrested. He was an employee for the sanitation department for almost two decades when his job suspended his license for two months because of the incident. Williams stated that he spent $1,500 on a lawyer and after two months the charges were eventually dismissed.
- Williams sued the city and the NYPD over the arrest. At the same time, Osei swore in an affidavit that Officer Gonzalez hadn’t even spoken to him and the statement attributed to him was false. Gonzalez even admitted in a deposition that he didn’t speak to Osei on the platform before the arrest, even though his criminal complaint said that he did.
- Williams lawyer, Joel Berger said, “The evidence is overwhelming that Gonzalez simply fabricated the allegations against my client, Darryl Williams, near the end of Gonzalez’s tour of duty so that Gonzalez could earn overtime.”
- Gonzalez was promoted to detective in December 2017, and received $35,871.41 in overtime in 2018 and $31,185.54 in overtime in 2017, above his $94,000 annual salary.
- When the case was dismissed the prosecutor Daniel Makofsky said, “The case could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt”. In the same token, the DA admitted that they did not keep any notes on the conversation they had with Osei and that the only thing they could do was to dismiss the case.
- Officer Xavier has yet to face disciplinary actions for the false statement and arrest. He is still in his field and assigned to the Brooklyn Special Victims division.
What a shame…
