Residents
gathered on Elmira Road last Saturday to participate in a Human Rights Rally
calling for Tompkins County Sheriff Ken Lansing and District Attorney Gwen
Wilkinson to take action to remove Stephen Moracco from service as a County
Deputy Sheriff. The rally was prompted
by an incident five years ago in which Moracco arrested Amy Crockford, who
alleged that the officer injured her on purpose after placing her in custody in
the back of his squad car. She also
alleged she was taunted by Moracco because she is a lesbian.
In
2009 Moracco, working as an Ithaca Police Officer, arrested Crockford after an
incident at the State Diner. According to Crockford, Moracco handcuffed and
placed her in the backseat of the squad car without being seat-belted. Moracco
then allegedly intentionally drove erratically causing Crockford to slam up
against the door and front seat, which resulted in her sustaining injuries to
her face and shoulder. Crockford was charged with disorderly conduct and
released a few hours after her arrest. All charges were later dropped and
Crockford states that she still doesn’t know why she was arrested.
Crockford
reported that the rally on Saturday was to garner public attention to the case
because the statute of limitations for criminal charges will expire on May
31st. Crockford’s supporters carried signs and talked with passers-by
explaining that they feel Wilkinson’s original investigation was incomplete and
potentially biased.
In
attendance at the rally was Heather Baretz of Ithaca who was an eyewitness to
Crockford’s arrest. Bretz stated, “I heard the officer shout to Amy, ‘Do you
want to go to jail?’ to which she responded ‘For what?’ We were only about ten
feet away from them. We stayed and watched because he seemed overly
aggressive.” Bretz continued, “Then he grabbed and twisted her hand and she
went down on her knee and he handcuffed her. She did not resist at all and did
not appear to be drunk. It was not the same kind of behavior I’d seen here from
other police and it concerned me.”
Eyewitness
Dyan Kummer, also in attendance at the rally, reported, “I watched him
(Moracco) grab her and throw her to her knees handcuffing her. She was
completely compliant despite his aggressive behavior.” Kummer goes on to say,
“The manner in which he took the corner when he drove away with her was way too
fast and unsafe.”
Kummer
said Wilkinson never contacted her. Bretz stated that Wilkinson did call her
but was not interested in her statement and only spoke to her for about thirty
seconds on the phone. Information from these two witnesses prompted County residents
including members of the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca’s Social Justice
Council (FUSIT-SJC) to write letters to Wilkinson asking her to recuse herself
from the case and allow a special investigator to reopen the matter.
Wilkinson
never responded to letters from individual supporters or from Crockford. She
did respond to the letter from the FUSIT-SJC stating that she stood by her
investigation and would not recuse herself.
Rally-goers
carried signs reading 'VIDEO DOES NOT LIE' referring to a video released by the
City of Ithaca depicting Moracco allegedly re-enacting the car ride with
Crockford in conversation with another officer disclosed in the Ithaca Journal
on December 25, 2013.
Crockford
said that Moracco used homophobic slurs as he repeatedly sped up and slammed on
the brakes during their short ride from the State Diner to the Ithaca police
station. “I was really scared. I had no idea what he might do to me next. By
the time we got to the station, I was pretty beat up.”
A
woman from Dryden that identifies as lesbian who wanted to remain anonymous
stated, “Knowing that Moracco might show up at my door makes me think twice
about calling the cops even if it were an emergency. I shouldn’t be afraid of
my own police force. That’s why I’m here today.”
Kathy
Russell walking the bridge sidewalk at Clinton and Elmira stated, “I don’t know
Amy Crockford, but I care about the LGBTQ community and I want to show my
support for them.”
Organizers
reported that another Human Rights Rally is planned for two weeks on Saturday,
May 10th. They say they plan to continue
until Lansing and Wilkinson take action to remove Stephen Moracco from the
Tompkins County Sheriff’s office.