Yonkers cop linked to second case of police brutality

A Yonkers police officer caught on camera slamming a woman to the ground faces additional charges of police brutality for a separate incident. Jason Lombardo, of Yonkers, filed a lawsuit in August accusing

News 12 Staff

Sep 12, 2008, 11:50 PM

Updated 5,944 days ago

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A Yonkers police officer caught on camera slamming a woman to the ground faces additional charges of police brutality for a separate incident.
Jason Lombardo, of Yonkers, filed a lawsuit in August accusing Officer Wayne Simoes and his colleagues of beating him in the course of an arrest.
The incident in question happened on Nov. 11, when police responded to a report of a man who was allegedly breaking into several cars in a parking lot across from 42 Pine St.
When several police officers, including Simoes, arrived at the scene, they say they witnessed Lombardo leaving the parking lot in his car. When they ordered him to stop, he led them on a chase into the Bronx.
Lombardo, who the District Attorney?s office says has a criminal background, claims both he and his wife, who was also in the car, were beaten after they were taken into custody and handcuffed. His mug shot, however, reveals no signs of injury.
The Lombardos are seeking millions of dollars in damages.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of another case involving Simoes, who allegedly violated the rights of an arrestee when he slammed Irma Marquez to the floor after a bar fight last year. Simoes, who remains on the force, was indicted last month by a federal grand jury in that incident.
Karen Edumunson, of the Yonkers NAACP, says reports of more police brutality involving Simoes trouble her.
?This also validates what I said that Yonkers internal affairs and the process over there is broken, because officer Simoes was actually on a list to be promoted,? she says.
Edmundson calls for Simoes to be immediately suspended from the force, but Yonkers Police Commissioner Edmund Hartnett insists the officer is entitled to due process.
?Police are the same as the rest of the public in that they are innocent until proven guilty,? he says. ?The facts and the details of that case will come out. And we will see what the outcome is.?
The District Attorney?s office does not plan to re-examine Simoes? actions in the arrest of Lombardo because he pleaded guilty to charges that included attempted assault and fleeing a police officer.