Defendant was charged with menacing and harassment after an alleged altercation with police officers. The officer was writing a parking summons when defendant verbally accosted him, demanding to know what the ticket was for.
The officer testified that the defendant became verbally abusive and approached him with clenched fists. The Bronx, NY County Court found that there was no probable cause to arrest the defendant because there was no evidence to show that his behavior rose to the level of a criminal act.
The court concluded that defendant’s words alone were insufficient to form the basis for an arrest. Further, it ruled the recovery of the gravity knife from defendant was incident to an unlawful arrest, and as such, suppression of it as evidence was warranted. As defendant’s statement was insufficient for prosecutors to proceed, the charges were dismissed.