NYPD Deputy Inspectors Anthony Bologna and Johnny Cardona came under fire
after videos of their alleged misconduct surfaced in late 2011.
Kaylee Dedrick of Brooklyn kneels as friends flush her eyes with water
after she was pepper-sprayed on 12th St. near University Pl. during an Occupy
Wall Street march on Sept. 24, 2011. NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna (top
rt., in white, and inset) looks on.
NYPD Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona (rt.) hits protester Felix
Rivera-Pitre (green shirt), as Occupy Wall Street activists clash with police
in the financial district on Oct. 14, 2011.
The Manhattan
District Attorney will not prosecute a pair of high-ranking cops seen on video
pepper-spraying and punching Occupy Wall Street protesters more than a year
ago, they said Friday.
NYPD Deputy
Inspectors Anthony Bologna and Johnny Cardona came under fire after videos of
their alleged misconduct surfaced in late 2011.
Bologna was seen
firing the crowd-control spray liberally at a seemingly calm group of people
near Union Square on Sept. 24, and protester Felix Rivera-Pitre was slugged in
the face by Cardona on Oct. 14 during a demonstration in the financial
district.
“After a
thorough investigation ... we cannot prove these allegations criminally beyond
a reasonable doubt,” said the DA’s chief spokeswoman, Erin Duggan.
A law
enforcement source said it was not clear to investigators that the cops’
actions were unjustified, based on additional evidence they studied.
But lawyer Ron
Kuby, who represents victims in both cases and called for assault charges
against the pair, blasted the DA for not acting and taking “almost 19 months to
decide he would do nothing.”
“Despite the
overwhelming proof on videotape, seen around the world, Cy Vance Jr. has shown
that it he will do nothing to disturb his cozy relationship with the police,
even in the face of the clearest wrongdoing,” Kuby said.
Lawsuits against
the city, police department and the cops involved stemming from both incidents
are pending.
Bologna was
docked 10 vacation days in the spraying incident, and Cardona was cleared by
the department.