EXCLUSIVE: Brooklyn man claims NYPD officers framed him to collect money given to tipsters
Jeffrey Herring, whose gun case was dropped last week after a 19-month ordeal, claims two NYPD officers framed him in order to collect money given to tipsters. Herring plans to sue the city and his arresting officers for unspecified damages.
BY OREN YANIV
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, January 20, 2015, 2:30 AM
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KEVIN C. DOWNS/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWSJeffrey Herring (center) leaves court with his lawyers Scott Hechinger and Debora Silberman.
A Brooklyn man whose gun case was dropped last week amid an investigation into whether the arresting officers have framed him and others is suing the city and the cops — claiming they partially did him in to collect money given to tipsters.
Jeffrey Herring, 53, was locked up for eight days before getting out on bail then had to come to court 16 times over 19 months until his June 2013 arrest was thrown out by prosecutors.
A federal lawsuit set to be filed Tuesday names the city along with the officers involved in his collar: Gregory Jean-Baptiste, Jean Gaillard, Edward Babington and Vassilios Aidiniou of the 67th Precinct. These cops are being probed by Internal Affairs and Brooklyn prosecutors for implicating a number of gun suspects without producing an informant or other supporting evidence.
“Allowing these individuals to walk the beat, carry a gun and shield and authorize an arrest shocks the conscience of law-abiding citizens who expect the police will uphold the law and keep them safe,” said Herring’s lawyer, Joseph Indusi of London Indusi LLP.
His suit suggests cops pocketed the $1,000 reward money for a found gun with Gaillard and Jean-Baptiste collecting the cash on behalf of the tipster against Herring, who never materialized.
It asks for unspecified damages. A similar case involving Babington, where a federal judge said that the “officers perjured themselves,” was settled for $115,000, records show.
Jean-Baptiste, who’s now retired, has a checkered past that includes a DWI crash he allegedly tried to cover up in 2009. He got sued two years later for allegedly stealing $200 from a suspect, the lawsuit says. Babington has been sued at least three times for civil rights violations.
A lawyer for the city’s Law Department said, “We will review the lawsuit.”
