The suit, which was filed by Manhattan attorney Mike Shaw, accuses many members of the homicide squad of false arrests, kidnaping, abuse, physical and verbal assault, and denying them their right to counsel.
All five plaintiffs share a relationship, through friendship, work or kinship, with Daniel Pelosi, 47, a suspect in the murder of East Hampton millionaire 52-year-old, Ted Ammon. The police are desperate to solve this case, Shaw said. So desperate they deprived my clients of their basic rights.
Ammon was found bludgeoned to death in his East Hampton mansion on October 22, 2001. While police have not charged anyone with the murder Pelosi, a Manorville electrician, has remained a prime suspect. At the time of the murder Ammons estranged wife, Generosa, 47, was fighting for child custody and a considerable portion of Ammons millions in a bitter divorce battle. Generosa and Pelosi were romantically involved and have since married.
Like a paper-back crime story, the case has captured the imaginations of tabloids here and abroad, and this recently filed lawsuit provides additional fodder.
The plaintiffs include, Pelosis ex-wife, Manorville resident Tamara Pelosi, his cousin, Christopher Parrino of Rocky Point, and friends and past co-workers Alex Mawyer of Mastic Beach, Arnold Cherubino of West Babylon, and Frank Perrone of Queens.The suit claims that on two days, April 4 and 5, detectives rounded up the plaintiffs and detained them illegally in an attempt to gain information to implicate Pelosi in the Ammon murder. Pelosi is currently serving time in the Riverhead jail for DWI charges. Generosa is residing in their Center Moriches home where she is purportedly gravely ill with terminal cancer.
This case will not sustain in a court of law, said Suffolk County Chief of Department, Philip Robilotto. I have every confidence in the Homicide Squad. These are world class investigators.
But according to testimony, homicide detectives were anything but. Tamara Pelosi, 39, who was divorced from Daniel last year, was driving to her Port Jefferson job on Friday morning, April 4, when she was pulled over by a patrol car on the Long Island Expressway. According to Pelosis deposition, she was then told there was a warrant for her arrest, was handcuffed, driven to the Seventh Precinct in Shirley where she was threatened by homicide detectives with fictitious felony charges theft of services verbally abused and told she could go to prison for ten years and never see her children again if she did not cooperate. During this time Pelosi said she asked to call her lawyer, her daughter and her job but was denied. Around 10:30 that morning, Pelosi said she was allowed to call her job on the condition she not say she was being questioned about the Ammon murder. Pelosi said she was then taken to the Fifth Precinct in Patchogue where she suffered a panic attack and collapsed. Later she was searched, fingerprinted and photographed and given a Desk Appearance ticket for misdemeanor theft of services from the Long Island Power Authority. She was released from police custody at 2:30 pm after paying $50 in bail.
In the suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on Monday, a Mastic resident, Alex Mawyer, 40, who knew Daniel Pelosi and is also an electrician, described the 12 hours he was held and questioned by police and denied his right to speak with an attorney despite his repeated requests.
Mawyer said that on Saturday, April 5, around 10:45 am, he left his Daisy Lane home in Mastic Beach to pick up his two children in East Moriches for the weekend. Mawyer said that as he was driving north on Overlook Drive an unmarked car driving in the opposite direction drove his truck off the road, while another car pulled up behind him and blocked him in. At least four men got out of the cars and yelled to Mawyer to get out of the truck and put his hands in the air. In less than two minutes, Mawyer said he was handcuffed, shoved into one of the unmarked cars while his truck and the other car were driven off. Mawyer said that he was never told that he was under arrest the entire time he was held in custody but in the car one detective told him he was being taken in, in connection with Daniel Pelosi and the Ammon murder.
During the rest of the interrogation Mawyer said he was asked many questions about Daniel Pelosi, his business and his personal life, including Pelosis whereabouts on the weekend of the murder. At one point, a detective told Mawyer that they already knew that Pelosi was the murderer and the questions moved toward Mawyers movements at the time of the murder. Mawyer said he was told that Pelosis sister Barbara had signed a statement saying she had seen Mawyer on a live video surveillance computer screen on the weekend of the murder. Mawyer said at that point he became angry and demanded to speak with a lawyer. Mawyer said that he was told that if he would sign a written statement he could leave. After the statement was written and revised, Mawyer was handed a small card containing Miranda warnings. After 12 hours of interrogations Mawyer was released.The other three plaintiffs tell of similar experiences. Parrino, 35, said he was lured from his home, placed in custody and told he was under arrest for murder. For sixteen hours he said he was questioned, threatened and shackled. For ten hours he said he was held in a small room at Suffolk Police headquarters in Yaphank and questioned by over seven detectives at least one of which was identified as a homicide detective. Parrino said that during the interrogation he was physically assaulted several times by two detectives. Parrino said that he asked to speak with a lawyer but was told to sign a statement or be booked for murder and put in jail.
Perrone, 40, , in the suit, said that he was forced from his truck at gunpoint by four or five Suffolk County homicide detectives early Saturday morning on April 5 in Queens. Perrone said he was taken to Yaphank headquarters, shackled to the floor in a hunched position while groups of detectives took turns questioning him and accusing him of murder. Perrone said he denied any involvement and told detectives he wanted to call a lawyer and his wife. Perrone said he was released only after signing a statement and initialing a Miranda card that had an early morning time notation on it. Perrone objected but was told if he did not sign it he would not be released.
Cherubino, 52, also said in the suit, that he was lured from his home around noon on April 5 by a call from a person who identified himself as a policeman. The person told Cherubino that someone was misusing a credit card and could he come to the Bay Shore Police Station to view a video. Cherubino left his home and was soon forced off the road by two unmarked cars. Cherubino said he was put into one of the cars while a detective got into Cherubinos truck and drove off. Cherubino said he was told by detectives in Yaphank, that he had interfered in the Ammon murder investigation by taking bloody clothes in his boat to get rid of them for Danny Pelosi. Cherubino denied those charges. Cherubino said that he was questioned for many hours and only advised of his rights at the end of the interrogation.
The saga continues and some sources close to the investigation say an arrest is imminent. What is known is that the sadness continues. While Pelosi awaits release from jail in June, and Generosa languishes in Center Moriches, the sister of Ted Ammon, Sandi Ammon Williams, filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking custody of the 13-year-old twins, Gregory and Alexa. The lawsuit claims the cancer- stricken mother suffers from mental disorders and that Danny Pelosi has a long criminal record and is not a fit stepfather.