Life of a cop ruined, life of a pot smoker ruined, life of another officer shakened up, over the failure of war on drugs. According to the Daily News:
A pot-smoking suspect beat and choked a petite Manhattan cop so brutally she may never be able to return to work, police sources told the Daily News.
Officer Renee-Maria Sampson and her partner Temeisha Hoyte, both four-year NYPD vets, were patrolling a building in the Lillian Wald Houses on the lower East Side on Nov. 23 when they spotted Pedro Urena holding a lit joint, authorities said.
The cops called for backup, but before other officers arrived, Urena attacked, punching them both and slamming them against a wall, according to a complaint.
Next, he grabbed each cop by the neck and tried to choke the life out of them, according to police and a criminal complaint.
“At one point, Urena takes them and hits their heads together,” added one source. “Then he tried to drag both cops into his apartment.”
Backup officers arrived just in time, and Urena was arrested.
But Sampson had an asthma attack, fell to the ground and slammed her head, police said. She temporarily lost consciousness and had at least two seizures.
Sampson said she didn’t want to use her gun for fear she would shoot her partner because of the proximity, a source said.
The 29-year-old officer has yet to return to work. At 5-feet-2 and 105 pounds, she was overpowered by Urena, who is 5-feet-11 and 180 pounds, the source said.
The NYPD is considering a change in how officers are trained to deal with combative suspects, another source said. That source noted that “maybe the cops could have stayed back and waited for backup.”
I don’t advocate physically assaulting people like Urena did in this case. Yet, I’d like you to consider what Urena was facing. He most likely knew the police were on to him and that he was carrying an ‘illegal’ item. His choice at that moment was to let the police arrest him and go to jail or try to escape. Urena choose the latter and though it’s really sad what happened to the tiny NYPD officer, she was engaging in activity that puts her in such scenarios.
Maybe now the 5-feet-2, 105 pound officer will consider joining LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or will think twice before trying to jail some on for possession of a plant. After all, it’s your body and you are free to put what you want in it without fear of arrest or extortion.
Allowing a 105 pound person of either sex to try and apprehend somebody almost (literally) twice their size is setting somebody up to be hurt or killed. And over weed. Yes, that really makes sense.
you would think MAYBE if you had such a tiny officer in your police force, you would partner him or her with a LARGE officer,for safety’s sake. I doubt the ladies would have been attacked if they were a little more intimidating (i.e. LARGE MEN).
could there have been a white substance mixed with the green? chb
You have officially crossed the line with your write up following the article. The man tried to kill a woman because he was facing a petty charge of possessing marijuana. In most places its a ticket and a fine. Your asinine remark about considering he had two choices seeks to minimize the fact he literally tried to choke someone out for nothing but their uniform. It was a hundred pound woman no less. Way to go, I guess advocating non violence has gone along with being an advocate for accountability and not just anti law enforcement. The reality is as dumb as I may find you to be your perspective was something I was interested in because it was so vastly different. After the last few posts I all I see is someone who can’t stay out of trouble crying foul because the big bad system is picking on them.
My heart goes out to the cops in this situation. But I would be remiss to not point out that this is not surprising. All the stories you hear about people getting beat down during a simple stop and frisk check. Now you have a man caught with a joint. He thought he was getting ready to really get his ass kicked. So he just decided he had nothing to lose. As long as the whole stop and frisk policy is in place we are going to see more stories like this.
Here’s a followup:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/stoner-cleared-choking-cops-les-article-1.1238008
And another:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/hand_man_accused_never_brutally_gQQ38BYf357TLCnDdOja0L
Turns out he didn’t “strangle” anybody. I’m guessing the backup officers found Sampson unconscious and unable to breathe, so they invented the charge to justify a lengthy beatdown before the arrest.
Stating Ms. Sampson’s physical size in the story is a red herring, designed to garner sympathy for the NYPD. She made it through the academy and was deemed fit for service, and now she is unable to return to work because of her own medical issues, not because of some murderous pothead.
Of course, after seeing salary data like this (http://new-york-employees.findthedata.org/l/775490/Renee-Maria-Sampson – $43,000 is a pittance in NY), I wouldn’t blame her for wanting to draw disability insurance instead of patrolling housing projects for the rest of her life.
Hey, one more pig off the streets. Sounds like a good thing to me.
Why would a 105lbs cop be on the beat?!
Ademo,
Got to go with Pete M. on this one. “I don’t advocate physically assaulting people like Urena did in this case. Yet, I’d like you to consider what Urena was facing.”
I don’t support assaulting people, per se, however if the situation warrants it, so be it. Asinine is an understatement.
Then to suggest maybe if she joins LEAP, or decides not to enforce the law, she’d have been, or will be better off.
I understand you disagree with the Criminalization of drugs, completely agree. However, change will not occur by civil disobedience, or beating the living shit out of a LEO, change can only occur through voting, legislation, and repeal. The only way to enact such change is to educate the community on the poor performance on the “War on Drugs”, the insane incarceration of drug users, and electing proactive legislators.
Have a bit more of accountability than posting such drivel.
Although I do not agree with the drug laws, I think that this dude’s actions are shocking and he will receive massive loss of liberty through his actions, as he should! The thing is when a cop kills someone unlawfully, even instigating the situation he/she is protected by the corrupt system in place when these people are employed by the people to protect the people and yet you are more likely to die by a cop’s gun in the u.s than any other! Unlawful killings are usually always covered up or justified even when it is blatant murder! I have no sympathy for the cop’s as they have created an atmosphere of total mistrust which they need to correct before things rally get out of hand. If the cop’s didn’t literally pick on people to the point of intimidation that make’s people fearful for their lives then I wonder if this guy would have acted differently when put in that situation… Just a thought. God bless us all.
if ya cant run with the big dogs stay on the porch.
Chose to escape?? LOL people who try to escape run, they don’t choke out officers and try to drag them into an apartment.
It’s to bad this guy didn’t kill these cops. Who was the victim prior to these cops harrassing this guy ?
Yo, Pete,
What you mad about buddy, LOL, it’s all fun and games when it is the other way around, LOL. You pig fucking trolls advocate violence on a titanic scale. I have heard you mother fuckers laugh and down play this type of shit all the time when its the way around, fucking moron hypocrite. Down play that mother fucker. You know what is funny this type of shit is coming down the pipe in a big way and you only have yourselves to blame.
Here is what you cops need to do. First tell that nigger in the white house that he is not a king, next, follow the constitution that you swore to uphold. Stop caging people for victimless crimes. Next, don’t hit, taze and shoot people because you are having a bad day or they gonna start doing it right back to you. Maybe try throwing the real crooks in jail, i.e., corrupt cops, usurping politicians, wall street bankers, fucking pervert priests, the DOJ and Eric Holder, maybe CIA agents when they torture and kill innocent people and their kids or nazi fucking city council members and so many more. How about, telling the TSA to go suck a dick this isn’t East Berlin. I got one for ya, tell border patrol to enforce the fucking law and send the illegals back, FUCK do I need to go on.
Having said all that, it’s what you get for sending two woman out to do a mans job, LOL, you cops got them killed as simple as that. That seem like a great explanation to me. I’ll bet you a buffalo nickel this bitch sues the department. LOL, go put your head in the dirt you fucking cry baby………..
Yo Pete,
Sorry not killed, beat the fuck down.
LOL, what a great article, the war on drugs…….what a great success story. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
I agree that a guy beating up a female is a pile of shit. However, I find it just as much a pile of shit when 6 or 7 cops beat the crap out of somebody, all the while screaming the “stop resisting” mantra. So you whining cops can just STFU until you’re willing to do something about the other side of this issue.
I’m holding the writer accountable. Where is the police misconduct and how does this post further accountability in law enforcement. All I took away from it is if you don’t like the law than you will assault a person and cause them bodily harm. That isn’t a message of peace. It is a declaration of war. Simply put, do what the writer believes, or else. This event is about this event, and nothing else. Stop skewing the issue and explain your open avocation of violence.
@mobooz: Thank you for keeping a level head about it. I noticed manipulative speech in the original account of the arrest too. I even noticed manipulative speech in the first of the two clarifying articles you linked.
@Pete Malloy: The author of this post did not cross any line. And I can answer your question about how this is keeping with police accountability. What Urena actually did (which is not quite as bad as what was originally reported) was WRONG in that assault is wrong. At the same time, capturing somebody is wrong. As a society, we accept the capturing of criminals for their criminal acts, but what if somebody tries to capture you when you’ve done nothing wrong? THAT is assault.
I carry a firearm for personal defense. I have been in situations that required me to draw it. The day might come when I’m forced to pull the trigger. By doing so, I’m going to severely hurt another human being. If I need to do so to survive, society will not hold me as being in the wrong.
I can’t speak for the poster of this incident, but my interpretation of his posting it is to encourage other people to think for themselves as to the actual timeline of what transpired. Initially, Urena was doing nothing wrong. As such, for anybody to try and capture him is not only wrong, it is provocation. Now it looks as if what Urena actually did do was excessive, but he was essentially a free creature responding to stimulus.
It’s not okay just because somebody once upon a time violated the US Constitution and wrote down that there are certain things the very possession of which is criminal. I’ve never done recreational drugs myself, but I firmly believe in the rights of other people to do whatever they choose to their own bodies, so long as they’re not hurting anybody else.
Bottom line, Urena was in the wrong, but he was provoked. This won’t be enough to exonerate him amidst a jury of his peers, but I agree with what I believe is the author’s sentiment that it’s worth the rest of us taking another look at the bottom line of our so called war on drugs.
Did you not read the very first line of this posting? “Life of a cop ruined, life of a pot smoker ruined, life of another officer shakened (sic) up, over the failure of war on drugs.” In other words, before all this happened, we had 3 human beings, nobody’s hurting anybody. Somebody said that a plant is illegal to possess even though the possession of that plant hurts nobody. As a result of that declaration, three people’s lives were irrevocably altered on that fateful night.
As American citizens, we cannot stand for this hypocrisy. The state of New York just made a good portion of its citizens criminals with a single pen stroke. This is not okay. Our “leaders” need to understand that criminal action is criminal action. Possession of an object, even if it has the POTENTIAL for harming others, is not a crime in and of itself.
America is a democratic republic. The majority elects representatives and if your elected official does not reflect your views that is unfortunate, but the majority has spoken. We are governed in those principals set forth in our constitution. There are checks and balances in place that prevent an unnecessary tyranny, and while many do not support the east on drugs, the supreme court, Congress and the executive branch do. They are supported by the majority opinion. If you can not understand that than you do not support the constitution. Good bad or ugly, that document defines our government. Call yourself an anarchist and abandon the constitution, out stop the childish tirades
Not cool. Nobody deserves to be assaulted for no reason. That applies to all of us.
Do I feel for the cop. I’ll admit it I do. On the other hand I strongly feel for the hundreds if not thousands of civies who get the crap beat out of them every year in this country that should not.
…and NYPD is really bad for that.
In what reality does a 5’2″ 105 lb. female beat cop with asthma seem like a good idea? She had no business in that business in the first place.
I would hope she fully recovers and moves on to find productive work. A hard lesson that should not have been learned the hard way.
A cop talking about the Constitution. That’s priceless!!
Well this article just confirmed my suspicions on copblockers…douchebags who simply hate any kind of authority. Worthless article authored by worthless people!!
I’m sorry but i had rather go to jail for pot befor i cause anyone harm like that. True, i do not like the laws in regards to pot but its not worth doing what he did to that person.
At least it was a cop who got hurt, not an innocent human.
Hey Troy, go blow a cock, we never said we hate authority we just hate you mother fucker.
..!.(‘-’).!..
Ahhh, now my feelings are hurt:(
@Mr. Malloy: You said republic, but then disregarded it. No matter how popular, it cannot exceed the limitations set forth by the Constitution. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; This means that until you’re infringing upon another, you cannot be committing a crime. No matter how many people say it is or write it down as such.
Look at it from a meta perspective. The so called war on drugs has just been an excuse to incriminate and therefore control that many more citizens both actively and passively by attempting to rule by way of fear. Coercion as opposed to cooperation. 99% of so called drug offenses are victimless, taking place either solo, or amidst consenting participants.
The moment you support the idea that possessing something alone is illegal, you’re supporting the idea that a person doesn’t own themselves.
People who throw baseless accusations such as “childish tirade” are trying to discredit the individual because they (the person making the accusation) are ill-equipped to discuss the merits of the topic at hand.
Bitch cops deserved it.