CBS) NEW YORK Last April, police targeted a sex-for-money operation at a well-known Brooklyn massage parlor. They sent in an undercover officer to catch them in the act. Instead, the cops involved were the ones who got stung.
Pictures taken from a series of hidden surveillance cameras show the undercover officer entering, standing in the massage parlor lobby and then walking out. He spends a total of 43 seconds inside. Yet the officer claimed that during those 43 seconds he was solicited by all eight women working there.
Moments later the vice squad moved in and the workers and massage parlor owner were arrested for prostitution. Based on the surveillance photos, prosecutors now believe the undercover officer was lying.
John Sims, a former federal prosecutor and assistant in the Queens District Attorney\'s office, represents the massage parlor\'s owner and workers.
"He had told the police back at the precinct after he had been arrested that he could prove that through the video that existed, he had in fact not committed any crime," Sims said.
Sources said when the police heard about this videotape, they took matters into their own hands.
On April 13, one day after the prostitution bust, two men broke in through the back door of the massage parlor. Cameras were rolling, capturing footage exclusively obtained by CBS 2.
The men you see on the tape aren\'t your average burglars. Rather they\'re cops, with guns drawn and badges showing.
On the video, they flip on the lights and begin a search for the tape from the night before, evidence that could prove the prostitution arrests were based on lies.
The break-in escalated into an alleged armed burglary and a cover-up involving ranking members of the NYPD, their desperate actions caught on tape.
"Well, I think clearly the intention of the officers were to come back and either destroy or hide evidence that would demonstrate that at least one of the officers perjured themselves in this case," Sims said.
The search is led by a lieutenant in a bulletproof vest. He is the same supervisor who led the Brooklyn South Vice Squad on the bust the night before.
A few minutes later the tape reveals the undercover officer carrying a videotape in his left hand. He\'s the same officer who stayed just 43 seconds the night before and holds the rank of sergeant
With his lieutenant by his side, the sergeant then notices a small pinhole camera, pulls up a stool, reaches and yanks it off the wall. With the camera now ripped out and videotape in hand, the cops may have believed all is clear, but they were wrong.
A computer hard drive recorded their every action and prosecutors now have this evidence of crimes allegedly committed by police officers.
"This client is technically very savvy which enabled him to maintain his video despite an apparent attempt by the police to destroy it," Sims said.
Once the District Attorney saw the videotapes, the prostitution charges against the massage parlor were quickly dismissed. The prosecutor\'s conclusion: the arrests were based on a lie.
"Certainly I do not think people should always accept the word of a police officer even in a case that may be considered not so serious as evidenced by this particular case," Sims said. "Why would they lie? I don\'t know why they would lie in this case, but they did and nine people got arrested as a result of it."
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_228163040.html
Topic: More reason to police the police (Read 695 times)