False Arrests and Sexual Harassment of Inmates in Philadelphia
Erica Hejnar and another woman were arrested for "suspicion of drug possession." That's strike one against the Philadelphia Police Department, because neither woman had any drugs.
Hejnar and her friend were eventually released without charges, but not before Officer Norberto Cappas ordered them "to kiss and touch each other and expose their breasts."
Hejnar and her friend told Internal Affairs that Cappas dangled the keys and taunted them as he escalated his sexual demands, telling them they would do as he asked if they wanted to go home that night.
That's strike two. Strike three: Henjar collected $17,500 from the city, "in part because city lawyers concluded that she never should have been detained in the first place." No kidding. It's difficult to imagine that there was probable cause to arrest two women for drug possession who weren't in possession of drugs.
Strike two was enough to get Cappas fired, at least for now. A police tribunal found him guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer and of lying during a departmental investigation. The police commissioner canned him, effective at the conclusion of a 30 day suspension. But Cappas may still convince an arbitrator to overturn the commissioner's decision.
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