NYPD’s most-sued officers: 87 lawsuits filed against 14 cops in just two years
By Graham Rayman NY Daily News
It was a warm August night in Flatbush in 2018 when Michael Demas and his steel drum band were performing in a vacant lot at an impromptu gathering of Caribbean music fans. And then an NYPD sergeant with a history of faulty arrests showed up and ruined the fun.
Accusing the event organizers of selling liquor without a license, Sgt. Alan Chau of the 67th Precinct ordered his cops to arrest six people, including Demas, 60, the band’s leader. Demas, according to a complaint he later filed against the city, was held for nearly 48 hours and eventually agreed to an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal.
“I have no idea how they picked me out," Demas said. "We were just trying to showcase our culture and [police] came and disrespected us. It was very humiliating,” he added. “It makes you not want to be in America anymore.”
The city has yet to respond to Demas’ lawsuit filed in 2019, but it turns out that Chau heads the list of the NYPD’s most frequently sued officers over the past two years, court records show. Lawsuits were brought against him 14 times in 2018 through 2019, according to records compiled by the Legal Aid Society and obtained by the Daily News. Of the 627 arrests he was involved in, records show 393 were dismissed, or 63%.
Replies