FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE OFFICER CONVICTED OF FALSELY
FILING CHARGES AGAINST INNOCENT CIVILIANS
Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a former New York City Police Officer was convicted of falsely issuing summonses charging innocent civilians with violations of law.
Joseph Harmon, of the Bronx, pled guilty to one count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the 1st degree, a Class E felony offense. Harmon pled guilty before State Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett and was sentenced to 5 years probation.
Harmon, 29, had been assigned to PSA-7 of the NYPD’s Housing Unit until his resignation from the New York City Police Department on May 19, 2008 three days before he was arrested following an investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau.
In pleading guilty, Harmon admitted that he had written numerous summonses returnable in Criminal Court that were based upon fabricated events and information. The fabricated violations of law included smoking in public buildings, urinating in public or consuming alcohol in public from an open container. When the individuals named in the summonses failed to appear in court because they were unaware that they had been issued the summons, a judge would sign a warrant for their arrest. A number of the individuals were people who had been stopped by Harmon and asked to produce identification. Harmon would record their information and later use it when issuing the phony summonses.
Under terms of today’s plea agreement, Harmon’s admission of guilt for his conduct in the Bronx also covered charges in Queens County for engaging in similar conduct when he was assigned to NYPD’s PSA-9 Housing Unit. Harmon, who entered the Police Academy in January 2005, worked in Queens from July 2005 until his transfer to the Bronx in February 2006.
The fraudulent summons that led to Harmon’s guilty plea today cited a man for failing to clean up and dispose of his dog’s waste. Harmon falsely claimed that the individual cited had refused to sign the summons merely to acknowledge his responsibility to appear in court at a later date. Harmon also falsely indicated on the summons that he had checked the system for any open warrants that the individual may have had. As a result of today’s guilty plea, all summonses and arrest warrants that were issued in connection with this defendant’s unlawful conduct will be dismissed.
The case was investigated by the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Omer Wiczyk of the Rackets Bureau.
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