An NYPD officer is being investigated for a possible hate crime after Stephanie Dorceant, 29, has accused him of assaulting her and calling her a "f***ing dyke".
Dorceant was arrested early morning July 11th in Brooklyn for allegedly assaulting Officer Salvator Aquino. She is facing felony assault charges, as well as charges for harassment, menacing, and resisting arrest. However, Dorceant says Aquino attacked her, supplying this statement through her attorneys:
During the assault, Aquino was off duty and Dorceant says he identified himself as a police officer only just before uniformed officers arrived on the scene, before handcuffing her and her girlfriend.On July 11th I was in Brooklyn, where I live and work, heading from a concert with my girlfriend when, out of nowhere a large man bumped me from behind. I asked him if he was ok. He then barked at me, and I will quote: "mind your own business you fucking dyke.”Hen then attacked me, punched me in the face a number of times, choked me and called me several more anti-gay slurs. When he had his hands around my neck I truly thought I was going to die. I could not breathe. The only way I could get him to stop attacking me and my girlfriend was to bite him.When other police officers showed up I thought we were saved. That was not the case. It turned out that this man was an off-duty police officer. Instead of helping me and my girlfriend and arresting our attacker, more officers piled on top of me, slamming me onto the pavement and putting their knees on my neck, shoulders, and back. They then put us both into handcuffs and threw us into a holding cell in the precinct. After being processed at the precinct I was taken to the hospital, and then to central bookings.At my arraignment, they said that I had assaulted the cop and that I had used racial slurs. Even though I have no record, and their story was a complete lie, bail was set and I ended up at Riker’s Island.My attacker has still not been charged or arrested.Even though I am well aware of the many stories about police brutality, especially against blacks, Hispanics, and the LGBT community, I never really thought that this could happen to me. I want to share my story and say that police brutality is a real thing. Hate crimes are a real thing. Both of these things happened to me. Enough is enough.
The criminal complaint lodged against Dorceant alleges the officer saw she and her girlfriend, Nandi Allman arguing as he was walking to his car, and that she was the initial attacker after they bumped into each other. Dorceant said at a press conference Thursday the complaint was full of lies. A judge has ruled prosecutors have until January to indict Dorceant, or else the charges will be dismissed. An attorney for Dorceant said he is confident the charges will be dropped before that time.
The civil rights bureau of the Brooklyn DA's office is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. A friend to the couple has started a fundraiser for Dorceant's legal fees.
Source: Huffington Post, Photo: Stephanie Dorceant
