An MTA engineer spent three days in jail after being arrested for reckless endangerment, and he faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. John Hockenjos, 55, was arrested last Sunday by cops who were called to his property by his Sheepshead Bay neighbor who’s been feuding with him over who owns the driveway between their houses. When Hockenjos arrived home that night, police were standing in the driveway speaking with the neighbor. Cops say he sped up the driveway and almost ran over an officer, who had “to jump out of the way to avoid being hit by defendant’s vehicle,” according to the police report. Let’s go to the videotape!
http://liarcatchers.com/electronic_surveillance.html
At a court hearing today, Hockenjos’s attorney provided a surveillance video that seems to completely contradict what the arresting officer put in his report. As you can see, Hockenjos slowly comes to a stop in the driveway without endangering anyone, and no officers are seen jumping out of the way. Contrary to what Officer Diego Palacios wrote on his report, it does not appear that Hockenjos created a “grave risk of death.” The criminal complaint also claims Hockenjos was yelling and screaming, telling Palacios to “get the f— out of my driveway.” In the video, he appears perturbed, but not out of control, and at one point starts carrying groceries into the house.
But minutes later, Hockenjos was arrested, as was his wife, who was charged with disorderly conduct. She claims officers punched her during the arrest. “There was no explanation,” Hockenjos tells the Daily News. “I’m reminding the officers this is my driveway. They said nothing, just ‘Put your hands behind your back.'” It was his first arrest. “In my 20 years of legal experience, I’ve never seen this crystal clear example of a false arrest,” defense attorney Craig Newman said outside court today. “The officers totally overreacted to the situation.”
Newman has turned the tape over to the Brooklyn DA and is demanding charges be dropped. His client’s case has been adjourned until August. At press time, it was still unclear who owns the driveway, but we’ll update as more information becomes available.
