Officer Jason Lansing, left, listens less than two minutes after Amy Crockford had been released from the Ithaca Police Department on May 31. Officer Stephen Moracco right, goes through the motions that Crockford's attorney says show him re-enacting how Crockford was thrown about in the rear of the police vehicle Moracco was driving after her arrest an hour earlier. / Provided photo
Provided Photo taken by Amy Crockford after returning home May 31, 2009. Crockford alleges that the bruises on her shoulder and forehead were caused by her being intentionally thrown around in the back of Ithaca Police Officer Stephen Moracco's police car. / Provided
Surveillance video from the Ithaca Police Department station appears to show a police officer acting out the abuse he carried out on a woman while she was handcuffed in the back of his squad car, the woman's attorney alleges.
The video, provided to The Ithaca Journal Wednesday by attorney Seth Peacock, is from the early morning of May 31, 2009.
Amy Crockford was arrested for disorderly conduct outside the State Diner at 2:39 a.m. Handcuffed and without a seatbelt fastened in the back of Officer Stephen Moracco's squad car, Crockford alleges that Moracco intentionally slammed on his brakes twice, causing her face and shoulder to smash into the Plexiglas divider in the car.
The date- and time-stamped surveillance video shows Crockford being released from police custody at 3:28 a.m. while Moracco works at a computer in an adjoining room. The Ithaca Police Department does not record audio in the station and video is recorded at a rate of two frames per second.
At 3:30 a.m., Moracco is seen smiling and speaking to another officer. He then pantomimes lunging to the right, and he drives his right palm into his left palm twice. At 3:31 a.m., Moracco bangs his foot on the ground, puts his hands behind his back and thrusts his head and torso forward.
Peacock obtained the surveillance video from the City of Ithaca through the state's Freedom of Information Law. He provided edited copies of the video to District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson, City Attorney Dan Hoffman, the Ithaca Police Department, and the attorney for the city's insurance carrier in December, Peacock said.
Peacock provided The Journal with copies of the full, unedited video, as it was given to him by the city. That version is what appears in the four-minute clip on the Journal's Web site.
Last month The Journal also sought a copy of the video under the state's Freedom of Information Law. On Friday, the city denied The Journal's request for the video.
Peacock said he wants Wilkinson to bring charges against the officer.
"The DA's had this video since late December, almost four months," Peacock said. "All the while this officer remained on our streets with a badge and gun. The only question I have is, would it take the DA this long to act if this (officer Moracco) were a regular citizen?"
DA is investigating
Wilkinson said Thursday that she does plan to bring the matter before a grand jury, and she was unhappy that Peacock gave the video to The Journal.
"Investigations have to be conducted in a deliberate fashion. We've been in the middle of two murder investigations and a murder trial and I think Seth is unhappy with the pace at which this investigation is proceeding and I think he's trying to put pressure on me to hurry into the grand jury," Wilkinson said.
"A case like this to go into the grand jury, it's not something I can do on somebody else's timetable. I told him and Ms. Crockford we were pursuing this investigation. I have no idea whether Moracco's guilty of this or not, but it's got to be on my timetable. The statute of limitations on this, by the way, is five years."
Wilkinson said she was prevented by law from commenting on any details of the grand jury investigation.
Crockford was arrested May 31 after an incident in the State Diner, though police records of some portions of the incident vary. Crockford took a french fry off a plate of food as a waitress walked past toward another table. Then she and a man who later identified himself as a bouncer hired by the diner got into a shouting match.
Ithaca police officer Jason Lansing intervened and told Crockford to leave the diner, but he did not arrest her.
Then, according to Moracco's narrative police report, a fight broke out outside the diner in which Crockford "was the primary aggressor in the situation."
But according to Lansing's report, the fight "broke out between other females that were outside involved in a separate incident."
The disorderly conduct charge against Crockford has been dismissed, according to Peacock, and there is no longer a public record of the charge against her in Ithaca City Court, according to Deputy Chief Clerk Yvonne Foote.
Crockford is a 2009 graduate of Wells College and has no criminal record.
After Moracco arrested her, Crockford alleges that she was handcuffed with her hands behind her back, and her seatbelt was not fastened. She alleges Moracco sped, taking two fast left turns in a way that banged her into the door. She said she asked him to slow down and cursed at him, and alleges he twice slammed on the brakes in a way that caused her to fly forward into the safety divider in the car.
Crockford, a lesbian, also accuses Moracco of calling her a "fat dyke" in his car and of taunting her in the station for asking that a female officer retrieve her identification from her pants pocket, if officers wouldn't remove her handcuffs.
City response
City Attorney Dan Hoffman would not comment Thursday on any alternative explanation for the motions Moracco made on the surveillance video May 31.
"It would not be my practice to litigate a matter in the media," Hoffman said. "And to the extent that that happens, it certainly creates a situation where it may not be possible for a fair trial to happen in Ithaca if potential jurors get so much information that they've already formed an opinion."
Mayor Carolyn Peterson has seen the video, but Hoffman said he had not shown it to the full Common Council.
Common Council members contacted by The Journal Friday said they had not seen the surveillance video, and none would comment about Crockford's complaint because it is in litigation and is now the subject of a criminal investigation.
"After talking with the attorney's office, it doesn't make sense to comment at this time in light of the pending litigation and criminal matter," said Alderman Dan Cogan, D-5th, and acting mayor.
Alderwoman Maria Coles, D-1st, and chairwoman of the City Administration committee, said she wouldn't comment because it's a case before the court.
Alderwoman Jennifer Dotson, I-1st, and chairwoman of the Planning committee, said she wouldn't comment specifically on Crockford's case, but would say generally: "I'm really concerned that our police force and our whole community is avoiding biased and inappropriate behavior."
Alderman J.R. Clairborne, D-2nd, and Alternate Acting Mayor, said the negative attention on the police department is unfortunate, especially in light of the police shooting at Pete's Grocery in late February.
"The job of a police officer is hard enough at times, and right now it's especially a difficult time," he said. "They have a heavy burden dealing with the events of late-February and I would really hope that no officer has done anything to bring the department under more negative attention than it is right now."
Moracco still on duty
Mayor Peterson said the responsibility for internal investigations in the police department lies with the chief and deputy chiefs.
"There has been a lot of involvement around this. It has been talked about for months. It's an active investigation," she said Friday.
Both Hoffman and Peterson said that as far as they are aware, Moracco is still on active duty.
"As far as I know, he still is. I'm not going to comment beyond that. All that means is he has not been removed from active duty," Hoffman said.
Calls to Ithaca Police Chief Ed Vallely and Ithaca Police Benevolent Association union President Jeffrey Hubble were not returned by deadline Friday.
Jason Hungerford, co-chair of the Ithaca LGBT Task Force, called Friday for a full investigation of the incident.
"Every day men and women of the Ithaca City Police Department work hard to protect and serve our community. We hope that a full investigation will determine if there was any wrong-doing by any officers the night that Amy Crockford was arrested. If it is found that any officer acted inappropriately or unlawfully, we further expect that disciplinary or other appropriate action be taken," he said by e-mail.
"Our community needs to feel confident that those who serve in uniform are working to protect all of its citizens. We applaud their service and hope this ordeal comes to a speedy resolution."
