Police handling of New York's Central Park attacks results in suits, calls for probe

Women demonstrate in support of victims of the June 11 Central Park attacks

June 17, 2000
Web posted at: 11:09 p.m. EDT (0309 GMT)

In this story: Former suspect wrongly identified Officers may be subject to discipline Police name suspects RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

NEW YORK (CNN) -- New York police's handling of the June 11 attacks against women and girls in New York's Central Park has drawn lawsuits against the city and calls for a federal investigation.

After four women announced they have filed suit against the city accusing police of failing to protect them, a small coalition of women's groups Saturday called for a federal investigation into the department's handling of sexual assault complaints.

New York Police's Internal Affairs Division is investigating reports that several police officers did nothing to help 47 women and girls who said scores of men in Central Park had torn at their clothes, doused them with water, groped them and in some instances robbed them after a nearby parade celebrating the city's Puerto Rican residents.

MESSAGE BOARD Violence in America    VIDEO A women's group expresses outrage over the recent attacks in New York's Central Park QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

Women's groups, including Take Back the Night, the Street Harassment Project, Feminist Living Labs and Black Girl Revolution, gathered in Central Park and demanded the Department of Justice launch an investigation into how New York police oversees sexual assault complaints.

They also called on Congress to restore portions of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last month. In addition, the protesters said legislation intended for the prosecution of so-called hate crimes should be used to punish suspects in the Central Park attacks.

During his weekly radio appearance on Friday, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani called the attacks a travesty but said the majority of officers did their jobs. He ended his show by saying: "Make sure you get out into the park, enjoy yourself, have a great weekend."

Jasmine Gonzalez, 25, of the New York borough of Brooklyn, announced Friday she would file a $7 million lawsuit against the city because police allegedly failed to protect her. Anne Peyton Bryant, 29, of the New York borough of Manhattan is filing a similar suit for an undisclosed sum while Josina Lawrence and Ashanna Cover, both 21, from Somerset, New Jersey, are each filing $5 million dollar lawsuits.

Meanwhile, police on Saturday arrested a 17th man in connection with the attacks: Jason A. Commissiong, 20, of Brooklyn, according to Sgt. Elias Nikas. Authorities also voided the arrest of another suspect, Anthony Bryant, 25, of Manhattan, who they said had been wrongly identified.

All suspects were charged with sexual abuse in the first degree, police said.

Police have been using amateur videotape shot by witnesses at the attacks to identify suspects. The videotape was used to create "wanted" posters distributed by police on Friday depicting 17 so-far unidentified men suspected in the attacks.

Seven men arrested on Friday were found after tipsters called a police hot line, according to New York Police Commissioner Howard Safir. Seven additional suspects surrendered earlier in the week after seeing their photographs in the media. Two others were arrested at the scene on the day of the attacks.

Authorities have offered rewards of $2,000 for information leading to an indictment and an additional $10,000 if a tip leads to a conviction in the case.

Safir said as many as 60 men may have been involved in the attacks.

All of the attacks occurred in daylight, most of them at the southern end of the park, near the Central Park Zoo and the famous Plaza Hotel.

"This appears to be something that happened relatively spontaneously, and apparently some of them did not really recognize the seriousness of the matters they were involved in," Safir said.

"Without prejudging, my sense is we'll probably find four or five police officers who acted inappropriately while the vast majority of them acted appropriately," Safir said. "Those police officers who acted inappropriately will be subject to discipline."

Four tourists were among those attacked, including one couple from France. The man was held down, police said, while his female companion was sexually abused.

Police have said they don't think the attacks were gang-related, but New York Gov. George Pataki on Friday promised to propose legislation making gang sexual assault a crime punishable by three to five years in prison.

On Friday, six of the suspects walked by a media swarm outside Manhattan's 13th precinct into waiting police cars. Police identified them as: Roberto Camacho, 16, of Inwood, New York; John Taylor, 24, of the New York borough of Queens; Steven Burt, 32, of Jersey City, New Jersey; Isaias Lozano, 20, of Queens; Manuel Nunez, 18, from the New York borough the Bronx; and Manuel Vargas,18, also from the Bronx.

Detectives have singled out Vargas as playing a key role in the attacks.

"He seemed to have orchestrated a lot of the activities going on, or at least was a main player," said Assistant Police Chief William Taylor.

Vargas responded to the accusation on Saturday saying he was "doing nothing" when the attacks started and was not involved.

Other men arrested in the case, according to police, were: Davie Rowe, 24, of Hempstead, New York; Tremayne Bain, 23, of the New York borough of Brooklyn; Leslie Marcano, 19, the Bronx; Mark Daniels, 21, Irvington, New Jersey; Jensen Soto, 16, Brooklyn; Trevor Britton, 29, Brooklyn; Julio Delacruz, 22, North Bergen, New Jersey; Isaiah Forbes, 18, Queens, and David Garcia, 33, the Bronx.

Correspondent Brian Palmer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Police arrest 5 more suspects in Central Park attacks
June 16, 2000
More women, girls tell of attacks by mob of men in New York
June 14, 2000
Some victims of Central Park assaults say police ignored pleas for help
June 13, 2000
First lady urges Congress to take up Violence Against Women Act
June 12, 2000

New York City Police Department
  • Internal Affairs Bureau
Central Park
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
The Problem: Why do Men Batter Women?
Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network

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