In early December 2017 we were able to help bring about a favorable settlement for five young men who were wrongly arrested and jailed for a day by the NYPD. In April 2014 dozens of people convened in the Bronx to pay their respects at a memorial service. As the attendees dispersed, members of the NYPD arrested a man for possession of a handgun and narcotics. For reasons the officers could never properly articulate, they also arrested five other young men, whose only crime was being on the same street as the first man. The five men were arrested and left sitting on the sidewalk on handcuffs in their home neighborhood for some 30 minutes. Eventually they were brought to a local police station, and then Central Booking. The Bronx District Attorney interviewed the arresting officer and immediately concluded that there was no basis for these arrests. All five were then released.
The men brought suit. In December 2017, on the eve of trial, the City of New York, on behalf of the defendant officers (Edwin Espinal, Ryan Gillis, Eric Healy, and Jeremy Scheublin) agreed to pay $240,000 to settle the matter. We are happy to have played a part in bringing about a measure of justice for these men, who should never have been arrested.