She saw something. She said something. And then she got arrested.
A 67-year-old woman who lives in Castle Hill Houses in the Bronx will file a federal lawsuit on Friday, slamming the NYPD for busting her for calling 311 too much. Arles Cepeda called the city hotline 44 times during a stretch of 15 months — and she phoned 911 twice.
Cepeda says she’s no crackpot. She’s just an active resident tired of having to walk by suspected drug dealers in her Seward Ave. building at all hours.
“I kept calling, but no one ever did anything,” Cepeda told the Daily News.
Cepeda moved into the NYCHA property in November 2011. Her complaints to building management fell on deaf ears, she said, and her calls to 311 started shortly thereafter. Most of the calls were complaints about drugs. Others were about excessive noise in the hallways. And a few dealt with broken elevators.
Two men she believed to be dealers told her twice to mind her own business. Typically, police would show up, but the drug-peddling persisted, she said.
Detective Theodore Stefatos, a narcotics investigator at the time, called her on Dec. 4, 2012, to discuss her dialing habits. She says he showed up at her door with two officers.
Cepeda says she was told that police searched an apartment above her and found no evidence of drug dealing. Then she was told she was being arrested.
“I was handcuffed behind my back,” she said, fighting back tears. “And my neighbors saw me. I was so embarrassed.”
NYPD officials declined to comment on Thursday.
Cepeda was taken to the 43rd Precinct stationhouse, fingerprinted, put in a cell and processed. Several hours later, she was released with a desk appearance ticket, but not before she said Stefatos gave her a stern warning.
“If you continue calling, I’m gonna take you to the pysch unit at Jacobi Hospital,” she recalled him saying. “He was very cruel to me.”
Cepeda, a retired medical secretary and widowed mother of one, was charged with a misdemeanor — offering a false instrument for filing. Stefatos’ name appears on the desk-appearance ticket.
The woman’s lawyer, Samuel Cohen, said the charge makes no sense because Cepeda made phone calls and did not file anything in writing. Regardless, when she showed up in court two months later, she was told there was no case.
There was no docket number assigned to her case, Cohen said, making it likely police never forwarded any paperwork to the district attorney’s office. The DA’s office has no record of any charges.
Cepeda hasn’t called 311 or 911 since her arrest.
Her lawsuit alleges her civil and First Amendment rights were violated. Monetary demands weren’t disclosed.
Her lawyer said arresting those who call for help can have a chilling effect.
“The danger is people will be afraid to report conditions to the government,” Cohen said.
Stefatos, a 21-year veteran, didn’t want to discuss the allegations.
“I’d rather not,” the 42-year-old said when reached by phone on Thursday. “Thank you.”
A Law Department spokesman said the office will review the suit when it’s filed.
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With Dareh Gregorian
