NYPD Go On Warrantless Search and Beat Down of Latino Family after Stop about Parking Space

From [HERE] and [HERE] A Latino woman has sued the city claiming police entered her home in Staten island without a warrant, and beat her family  according to court documents. The officers also stepped on their pet bird intentionally, killing it, court documents say.

The violent incident occurred Sept. 2, 2012, as Lugo’s family was celebrating a Labor Day barbecue, the suit said.

Lugo’s son Edwin Avellanet was taking a bag of garbage outside when cops stopped and questioned him about an orange construction cone placed in front of their Corson Ave. home to save a parking spot, according to lawyer Jason Leventhal.

The cops demanded to see identification and Avellanet, 26, refused, stating that he had done nothing wrong. A cop grabbed Avellanet by the arm, but he was able to break free and retreat into the house, according to the suit. The lawyer said cops started smashing several first-floor windows with their equipment. Lugo opened the front door to see who was outside and the cops barged in, Leventhal said.

“It was completely uncalled for,” Leventhal said. “There was no excuse for going into the house without a warrant.” Additional cops arrived and swarmed throughout the house looking for Avellanet. “They threw me like a piece of garbage on the floor,” Lugo said.

Another son, George Lugo, and family friend Luis Ortega were struck in the head repeatedly with a baton and suffered severe facial injuries, according to the complaint filed Nov. 29 in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Lugo’s daughter, Alba Cuevas, has asthma and was having difficulty breathing due to the pepper spray cops used. She ducked into a bedroom to catch her breath and was arrested. Criminal charges against Ortega, Lugo and Cuevas were later dismissed and sealed, according to the suit. Avellanet, the subject of the cops’ initial stop-and-question, was not charged.

“Ever since then I have been sick and depressed,” Lugo said. “I was hurt on the inside, in my heart.”

The suit, alleging unlawful search and seizure, excessive force and malicious prosecution, seeks unspecified damages.