by Patrick H. Moore
Kristy Abreu is the reigning Miss Westchester. She is also stunningly beautiful leading one to think (at least leading me to think) that it is not at all surprising that she is Miss Westchester. I have no idea whether she has brains and talent to go along with her good looks.
Sadly, Kristy, who is a native of Yonkers, and her mother, Kendy Paredes, were allegedly mistreated by NYPD officers when they were arrested near W. 145th St. and Eighth Ave. on May 5, 2013 at about 9 p.m. in Harlem. It started out as a routine traffic stop and quickly veered into a nightmare that neither Kristy nor her mom will soon forget. Apparently, the arrest and temporary imprisonment was due to a ‘computer glitch’ that made the arresting NYPD officers believe the car that she and her mother were driving was stolen. Kristy’s complaint isn’t over the glitch — it’s the way the officers allegedly tormented her and her mother for hours while they were in custody that has her upset — so upset that she has informed New York City officials that they intend to sue the city for $210 million based on the abuse they allegedly suffered.
Matthew J. Perlman and Daniel Beekman of the New York Daily News report:
Kendy Paredes and Kristy Abreu say that after a minor traffic stop, they showed NYPD officers valid registration and insurance papers for the 2006 Honda Civic, but they were handcuffed and taken to the 32nd Precinct station house anyway — apparently because cops thought the car was stolen.
Kristy and her mother claim that they were not read their Miranda rights and that the NYPD officers treated them “like animals.”
They state that they were yanked from their car in Harlem, handcuffed and tormented them for hours before they were released. To add insult to injury, they were never charged with any crime for the simple reason that their car was not stolen.
The teenage beauty queen says the NYPD officers acted “like pigs” when they stopped, frisked and handcuffed her. They were reportedly roughed up, taken back to the station and locked in a holding cell. According to the claim Kristy and her mother filed with the city, the police took away their possessions — including Abreu’s Miss Westchester sash and crown. As many as 15 to 20 officers were involved, laughing at them and permitting a fellow prisoner to taunt them with names and spit on them.
“We were treated like animals,” said the Yonkers native, speaking to the Daily News in the Bronx home she shares with her parents.
“It was the worst night of my life. It haunts me every day,” says Kristy Abreu, recounting the early May evening when NYPD cops allegedly threatened, humiliated and intimidated her and her mother and denied them access to food, drink, the telephone and the restroom.
“When we got to the precinct, they just started laughing at us. They didn’t show any respect. They didn’t care. I just hope the community becomes aware of the ways police harass people and make them feel bad. It was just a nightmare.”
According to Kristy, the female inmates were allowed to spit on them repeatedly and harass them with catcalls, yelling names like “pretty girl” and “crying little bitch” that made the claimants “cry uncontrollably.”
The NYPD’s 32nd Precinct logged more complaints against law enforcement than any other Manhattan precinct in 2012. Attorney Jack Yankowitz, who represents Kristy and her mother, Kendy Paredes, stated:
“The culture of excessive force and abuse that this precinct engages in is outrageous. They’re sweeping up innocent and sweet people.”
According to Kristy, out of all the officers involved, just one was female and she helped Abreu clean up her hair and dry her tears.
Kristy, who is Dominican-American, reports that she was released after about two hours so that she could retrieve the Honda’s title documents from her house. When she returned with the paperwork at about 5 a.m. with her father, Humberto Taveras, the police finally released her mother.
City lawyers declined to comment Tuesday, saying they had not received notice of the claim.