Internal Affairs Probing Police Response To Park Slope Sex Assault
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau is now investigating the police response to a Park Slope sexual assault that occurred in March.
The investigation comes in the wake of the arrest of 24-year-old William Giraldo, of Bensonhurst. He was charged Tuesday with rape and other charges in connection with the rape of a 28-year-old woman Saturday night in Sunset Park.
Giraldo was questioned in three other Brooklyn sex assaults, but was only picked out of a line-up by the victim of the June 5 attack. Now, the internal investigation being undertaken deals with the March 20th Park Slope attack that was caught on a security camera by a neighbor of the victim.
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The video showed the woman fighting off her attacker after he grabbed her from behind.
The actions of the patrol officers are now being questioned. NYPD Spokesman Paul Browne acknowledged that the cops continued to patrol the neighborhood looking for the alleged victim and assailant despite the fact that a neighbor informed them his camera may have captured the attempted rape.
When police apparently ignored the surveillance video, the neighbor passed it along to a local television station. The victim did eventually call 911 and officers were directed to the woman's residence, where she recorded her complaint and gave authorities her account of the attack and a description of the attacker.
Browne said that at the very least, the officers at the scene should have called the police department's experts to pick up the video and should have alerted detectives handling the case the tape was available.
According to the New York Post, the victim called police ten days later to inquire about the case. Police then realized the case had been erroneously closed. After the woman was interviewed again, police finally obtained the surveillance video, the paper reported.
In a statement, Browne said that while it may have been "reasonable" for officers to continue to canvass the area, the "IAB is nonetheless investigating why the officers didn't soon thereafter tell detectives or...video experts to return and get the video."
Giraldo turned himself Tuesday, claiming he was innocent. He claimed he was the man seen on a separate surveillance video obtained by police, but that he was not responsible for the string of sex attacks. He has not been charged in the three other attacks, for which police believe one man is responsible.
