Michael Daragjati Faces False Arrest And Civil Rights Charges

An NYPD officer was arrested on Monday for allegedly violating a man's civil rights after falsely accusing him of resisting arrest while conducting the controversial stop-and-frisk practice in Staten Island.

Federal authorities say they intercepted Officer Michael Daragjati's phone call to a female friend where he is caught bragging about the arrest and that he had "fried another n***er...no big deal."

Prosecutors say the 32-year old officer lied when he filled out a report claiming the unnamed African American shoved and kicked him after stopping and frisking him back in April.

According to authorities, when the man asked for Daragjati's badge number , he arrested him and told the man he did not like being disrespected.

In a separate incident in March, Daragjati is being accused of insurance fraud and abusing his authority by threatening a man whom he believed to have stolen a snow plow from a business he owned. According to prosecutors, eight men pulled the man out of a car, punched him, and threatened him over the snow plow.

US attorney for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement :

The power to arrest to deprive a citizen of liberty must be used fairly, responsibly and without bias. Motivated by base racial animus, the defendant allegedly abused this power and responsibility. Our system of justice depends on the publics confidence that those who enforce the law also obey the law.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has defended the controversial stop-and-frisk tactic and has said that it "is a proven law enforcement tactic to fight and deter crime, one that is authorized by criminal procedure law."

However, civil liberty groups have long protested the practice and say that it unfairly targets blacks and hispanics. Back in late August, a judge allowed a lawsuit accusing the NYPD of discriminatory acts when stopping and frisking.