Brooklyn, NY – Charges Dropped: Hikind Demands Official Inquiry Into Botched Arrest Of Chila Lati in Traffic Agent Dispute‏

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    FILE - Chila Lati, 39, at Brooklyn Criminal court for a scheduled court hearing on charges she ran over the foot of a traffic agent. Today the charges were droppedBrooklyn, NY – Subsequently to charges being dropped today, Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) is calling for an official inquiry into the botched arrest and prosecution of Ms. Chila Lati, a 39-year-old Brooklyn mother of four who was arrested in February for allegedly running over the foot of traffic agent Natasha Floyd on January 8, 2010 while trying to evade a parking summons. But Chila Lati’s only crime was having the exact same name and spelling as the actual perpetrator.

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    Lati’s nightmare began when NYPD detectives from the 61st precinct came banging on her door to arrest her. They declined to tell her what she was being charged with as she was led out of her apartment in handcuffs. She subsequently found out she was facing charges which included assault, reckless endangerment, obstructing governmental administration, menacing, and harassment.

    Lati repeatedly told the detectives they had the wrong person; that there were, in fact, several other Chila Latis residing in Brooklyn. The police refused to listen to her, and never bothered to question any of the other Chila Latis. Instead, Lati was interrogated, fingerprinted, body searched, stripped of her personal effects, and ultimately placed in an NYPD line-up and holding cell. She was facing one year in jail, with three years of post-jail probation. Lati had been released on her own recognizance pending trial on June 29.

    After learning about this outrageous situation from Lati’s lawyer, Israel Fried, Hikind immediately became involved to help Lati clear her name. Hikind praised Mr. Fried’s excellent legal work, noting that the sheer volume of evidence Mr. Fried amassed in defense of his client should have been sufficient for the authorities to immediately drop all the charges against her.

    “It is incomprehensible to me how an arrest was made based on the testimony of the agent who, on three different occasions, failed to identify the correct make, model, color, or license plate number of the vehicle that allegedly ran over her foot,” Hikind said. “This traffic agent should be fired and prosecuted for making a false identification to the authorities.”

    Floyd also mistakenly picked Lati out of the line-up. “Floyd’s credibility was shot, and yet, the police decided to hand the case over to the Brooklyn DA’s office anyway,” Hikind noted. “Why was there no proper investigation conducted?

    Lati’s horrific experience did not end there. Floyd also hired an attorney to sue Lati for “personal injuries arising out of and as a result of a work related accident. . . through your negligence.” Floyd had no qualms about filing such a lawsuit even though there was no injury noted in her medical records.

    Hikind added, “Who knows how many other innocent people have also been arrested under false pretenses? I am thrilled DA Hynes did the right thing in this regard, but I still believe the officers assigned to investigate this case should have their badges revoked.”

    Editors Note: 4:30 PM
    This Update is to clarify, that in fact all charges have been dropped against Mrs. Lati.


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    94 Comments
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    punch
    punch
    13 years ago

    congradulations!!!!!
    i hope she’ll sue the city to the hilt. let them think twice before they believe a traffic agent. i also hope that the agent will be fired for good.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    I wonder if all those who posted saying we are being given one side of the story,the DA knows what he’s doingshe should just admit it etc.. will now apoligize.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    MR HIKIND THIS HAPPENS EVERY DAY. HERES THE BIGGER PROBLEM CREDIBILITY. WHY DO WE AND THE COURTS ASSUME THAT AN OFFICER IS ALWAYS BELIEVED. WHY ARE THEY MORE CREDIBLE THAN THE CITIZENS WHO PAY THEIR SALARIES BY WORKING HARD.

    Chaim
    Chaim
    13 years ago

    Mazel Tov. B”h great news! Now I hope she will sue the pants off the NYPD.
    Wow great news

    A Simple Chussid
    A Simple Chussid
    13 years ago

    Wow, Mazel Tov!!!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    I hope She will sue the city and this bit*** for wrongful arrest !!!!! for millions in damages!!!! Let them realize once and for all they are NOT Above the law!!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    What a neis!! I am crying! This is SO wonderful. Thank you to Hashem Yisbaruch and to Mr. Hikind for this wonderful development.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    She can thank Dov Hikind, without him she would be sitting in jail.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Nu, so will the real Chila Lati please stand up.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Hay all those Hikind haters! Gotta give Dov credit when its due.
    Yasher Koach Assemballyman Hikend

    A pushter yid
    A pushter yid
    13 years ago

    This was so pushut, as she was pushut not guilty, so what took so long, I hop she sues the city for every last cent posibule, but bloomberg will never learn he’ll pass it on to us the tax payers.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    The officer should be arrested for giving false information,
    All people who wrote on VIN negative comments on Mrs. Lati owe her an apology.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Nice headline but I have read the story three times and nowhere in the text of this article does it say that the DA dropped the charges. All I know is that a trial was set for June 29th Someone was so excited about Dov’s supposed wonderful work, they forgot to finish writing this article.

    Satmarer
    Satmarer
    13 years ago

    Thank you Dov for working for us so hard and nonstop!!
    Just keep up your good work

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    What else is new, told you so. Welcome to justice in America, justice is truely blind here, just about anybody can be arrested if they decide to, your rights trampled, and if you dare speak up they’ll punish you. This lady just got lucky, millions like her aren’t that lucky.

    Conservative One
    Conservative One
    13 years ago

    Mazel Tov and great work Dov and Mr. Fried. As for Mrs. Lati, she should immediately sue the City and this rogue traffic agent and yes, this liar of a traffic agent should lose her job.

    bernard
    bernard
    13 years ago

    burech hashem Mrs. Chila Lati is out free. Ms.Chila we’re all very happy for you!!should hashem help from now on you should only see lots of naches from your children & you should never ever feel pain in your life!!!

    Chaya Lipschutz, Kidney Donor from Boro Park
    Chaya Lipschutz, Kidney Donor from Boro Park
    13 years ago

    Oh, Dov Hikind in general is a hero, many times over!

    Thanks Dov for caring so much for people and for all the great Chesed you do! We are so proud of you and honored to have you not only in our district but beyond New York, all the way to Israel as you are beloved there as well!

    Chaim
    Chaim
    13 years ago

    And to my HERO! Mr. Hikind, thank you, you have earend all of our votes.
    May you be blessed with kol tuv.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Please don’t forget to give credit to the extremely dedicated work of her hard working attorney Israel Fried. He tirelessly fights to protect the rights of frum yidden on a daily basis. Hats off to you!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    we live in a police state

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    The real Chila Lati who ran over the traffic agent should be ashamed of herself, for putting the other Chila Lati through all of this. What kind of Jew does this to another Jew? I hope she is brought to justice.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    NYPD bend over backwards to support meter maids but this is ridiculous and even more so for the DA to be involved. He has to go.

    MOISHE
    MOISHE
    13 years ago

    If it really was another Mrs. Lati who ran over the agent’s foot, doesn’t it seem odd that she hasn’t come forward to take the blame? I would assume that 2 persons of the same name are part of the same Sefardic community and probably related.

    stam a lawyer
    stam a lawyer
    13 years ago

    As a lawyer myself, we all know this is the hard work of a good pair of legal hands. Kudos to Mr. Fried on this victory for the entire klal

    reba
    reba
    13 years ago

    There are 1000’s of Chila Latis all over this country. Too many officers are above the law.

    I am trying to help a Jewish man who was arrested, charged with beating up his mother and resisting arrest. The Judge refused to grant bail!

    He was afraid that he would be found guilty and serve 5 years so he took a plea and served 90 days in jail.

    The mother has the sworn testimony of 5 doctors that she did not suffer a scratch, and that the son could not have possibly hit her. One of the officers on the scene, the one who did the whole crime report has since been fired for lying on a police report in another wrongful arrest and yet the State Attorney in FL still relies upon his testimony and refuses to re-open the case and investigate.

    Meanwhile, this man who was once a successful stockbroker has lost his job, home, car, everything. And because of the arrest, he cannot work again as a stockbroker and he is facing homelessness because no one wants to rent to a person convicted of a felony.

    Our elected officials need to recognize as Mr. Hikind does, the seriousness of an innocent person’s being arrested.

    The real Chila Lati
    The real Chila Lati
    13 years ago

    Did come forth to Dov with a completely different story.

    x-NY'er
    x-NY'er
    13 years ago

    While i congratulate Mrs. Lati and Mr. Hikind for fighting till the end, i must say that NYC is SCREWED up all the way, all the time. i lived there a long time and i know that ugly system well. But i was smart and moved down to southern Florida

    my foot
    my foot
    13 years ago

    The traffic agent probably invented the foot story to begin with. They are the biggest liars and thieves. Make that liars and thieves IN UNIFORM.

    NotSoInnocent
    NotSoInnocent
    13 years ago

    Charges being dropped does not mean she’s innocent!!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Traffic agents are notroius liars. Who do you think they are after they take off their uniforms? Drug addicts, thieves, barely finished high school. And the head of the Traffic meter maids is the worst. Arrogant and full of himself. Policemen wannabe’s.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    wonder what the traffic cop is doing now? desk duty? pushing pencils? will it be taken to internal affairs? suspended?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    FYI, there’s a cop standing right as your coming out of Shoprite of Ave I, at cor of 5Oth st. The other day he stops a vehicle and asks Why were you on the cell phone? The driver answers “I don’t even have a cell phone”. Officer asks you don’t have one? Driver answers “NO I DON’T” the driver was let go. The point is that the police officers and other city officials as well are outright lying. I’ve seen this with sanitation police, bldg det. inspectors and the like. This is a city wide epidemic and should be reported to Internal Affairs ir IG’s office whenever possible. If that doesn’t work, you must proceed with an article 78 lawsuit. What’s going on here is communist Russia 30 years ago. The city is hungry and desperate for money and do anything legal or illegal, ethical or unethical to bring in the bucks. There should be public protests and we should demonstrate and do whatever we can to bring this unfairness to an end. Even shut the city down. Its outragous what’s goiung on here in the name of the so called law. This is LAWLESSNESS of the worst degree. Mr. Bloomberg, I hope this reaches your pompous ears.

    bah-bee
    bah-bee
    13 years ago

    I don’t get it . Something doesn’t make sense here. How did the traffic agent even get Lati’s name? If it was from a driver’s license, it would have a unique license number, not shared with any other Chila Lati, and theoretically one could not be mixed up with another person having the same name. If the traffic agent just asked the person her name, the person answering could have just given any name, not necessarily her own, by any means! I’d like to know what really happened. We are not being given the whole story.

    huh?
    huh?
    13 years ago

    I’m confused, if there was no injury to the traffic agent’s foot, why is there another Chila Lati who actually did it??

    messed up
    messed up
    13 years ago

    the whole way how the investigation process from beginning to end was full of mistakes her only recourse is to sue in civil court which she will win, so go ahead and
    blame the pharmacy there is no end to all the blunders here

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    We should all remember that Hynes said that he personally reviewed the case and felt Lati was guilty. If this is our DA maybe we should have him impeached.

    professor
    professor
    13 years ago

    The real Lati should not speak up now. The miserable, lying agent should be prosecuted, and the department should be punished for their joke of a line-up. Noone else can really be prosecuted at this point because the agent has no ability to pick someone else out of a line-up.
    Additionally, if the real Chila Lati, was in the vicinity when this incident “happened” and she knew in her heart that she went nowhere near the agents foot, she had no reason to “come forward.” She probably did nothing wrong either.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    There is an important point being missed here. I have no question that there are shortcomings with NYPD and the DA office. The matter here is with an anarchy that is the baby of our dear Mayor – the traffic agent. Let’s review Bloomie’s record. One of his first mayoral acts was to double all parking violations. Next he allowed safety to wane while he increased the traffic agent forces astronomically. Then he redefined several “offenses” to more serious categories. He made the meter maids “police officers” who will never lift a finger for safety – but making any effort to protest an unfair ticket into an assault on a police officer. Then there were lies about there being no quotas. This is all about the Mayor. And it is time that we place the responsibility for all the dishonesty right on his lap. He has declared war against all NYC motorists. It is majorly costly to take lawyers to fight in court, and most of us will simply pay false tickets. It’s high time we bombard the Mayor with our dissatisfaction. I promise to vote against another extension of term limits. And if he runs, I vote for anyone else.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Obviously they finaly got the info from the Pharmacy. When they saw it was someone else, thwy had to drop the charges. As for the someone else, they will have an extremely hard time prosecuting her, as the only witness (the accuser) has lost all her credibility, especially by making a positive identification of the wrong woman.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Having read 60 comments my opinion of this is as follows.
    Dov hikind kudos for caring and doing. Please train many young people how to do what you do.
    Israel fried thank you. You should be a featured guest speaker sharing what goes on with the people. So they get an education as to how the system doesn’t work. How to handle a corrupt and broken system.
    Chila lati. Best of luck. Make more money then abner luwima with a broomstick.
    61 precint from captain down to petty officers they need an internal affairs hq to deal with that sick precint.
    Anyone living in 11229 knows this first hand.
    To brooklyn da you botched this one among many questionable cases you prosecuted. You ought to retire. You are way to cozy and arrogant.
    Traffic agent and team to jail jail jail.
    Liars and betraying trust if rubashkin deserves life you deserve the electric chair.
    Bloomberg you are the putz who created this enviornment.
    Get out of office quick so we can fix your mess.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Mazel tov to Mrs. Lati! I feel for you & your family for what you have gone through! This should be a Big Kapara for you! I listened to you on the Dov Hikind show & you spoke so beautifully! After all you had been through, you behaved in such a classy manner! You truly made a Kiddush Hashem! May you & your family be blessed!

    Cbey
    Cbey
    13 years ago

    Great Job Izzy !!!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    There are other cases of falsely accused persons having to go through expensive litigation to get their names cleared. I am talking about the sad state of affairs where supposedly frum wifes make false allegations that their husbands sexually abused their children. This is done to spite, hurt and humiliate their husbands and when they finish playing their dirty game they refuse to accept the consequences of their actions. Such wifes should be excommunicated

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    these traffic cops have to much power.if for some reason they don’t like you they can take your license plate number and issue you any type of ticket that they want.

    Starbucks
    Starbucks
    13 years ago

    to Chai latte: klal yisrael was always behind u. I hope u make some mula shmula and sue their pants off . also dint forget about the Seudah to thk the ONE Above

    Judge Judy
    Judge Judy
    13 years ago

    Thankfully, most yidden should never know from such things: this poor woman was “body searched” because of this! She should sue the city for every parking ticket they have ever issued! They violated a pure yiddishe woman! I am crying from reading this!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Dov Hikind himself admitted last night on Talkline that he indeed spoke to the real Chila Lati who was the cause of the incident.

    So all of you should get off your high horses and admit something bad did indeed happen.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    We didn’t speak up when they abused the blacks, the Latinos or anyone else.

    Why should anyone speak up when they abuse us?

    With all due respect, and I mean that sincerely, where was Dov (who I admire greatly) when a black man was tortured in an NYPD station house? Isn’t the 70 also in Dov’s district? Even if I am mistaken about the district borders, shouldn’t he have been concerned? Don’t any of you understand that whatever the NYPD does, it does in your name?

    Setting aside that normal decency should have caused us all to speak up, don’t you understand that police brutality tolerated anywhere creates an environment in which it is tolerated everywhere?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    The upright citizens of this great city should not rest until this officer is imprisoned for a long time. What nerve she is hired to defend us and now we have to be defended from them