This
case is a frightening example of what can happen when a photographer encounters
ignorant bullies with badges. According to the complaint filed in Federal
Court, Nancy Genovese, a mother of three, was driving home on County Road 31
past Gabreski Airport in Suffolk County. Gabreski Airport displays a decorative
helicopter shell by the roadway to the public, which is visible to all who pass
by.
Nancy
Genovese stopped her car on the side of the road across the street from the
airport in an area that is open and accessible to the public, and crossed over
the road to the airport entryway that is also open and accessible to the public
to take a picture of the helicopter display. While still in her car, she took a
picture of the decorative helicopter shell with the intention of posting it on
her personal “Support Our Troops” web page.
As
Nancy Genovese was preparing to drive away, she was stopped and approached by
Robert Iberger, a lieutenant with the Southampton Town Police. Lieutenant
Iberger demanded to know why she was taking photographs. Nancy showed the
lieutenant her camera, but Lieutenant Iberger grabbed her camera and handled it
“without care”. In an attempt to prevent the lieutenant from damaging the
camera, Nancy removed her memory card, which Lieutenant Iberger confiscated. To
date, Nancy’s memory card still has not been returned to her.
Lieutenant
Iberger demanded that Nancy remain where she is, and he refused to allow her to
leave. At this time, Lieutenant Iberger notified the Suffolk County Sheriff’s
Office and the authorities at Gabreski Airport of Nancy’s presence outside the
airport, and falsely and wrongfully informed them that she posed a terrorist
threat.
Suffolk
County Deputy Sheriff Robert Carlock responded to the scene, along with various
members of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office. When Deputy Carlock arrived, he
placed cameras on the roof of his vehicle, aimed at Nancy Genovese and her 18
and 20 year old sons who had come to the scene at this point to help their
mother. Deputy Carlock ordered all three of them to stand directly in front of
the cameras, and not to move.
Officials
from the airport, as well as other local and federal law enforcement agencies
also responded, including, without limitation, the Southampton Police
Department, the Westhampton Police Department, the FBI, and the Department of
Homeland Security. Nancy was questioned on the side of the road for
approximately five to six hours, from about 6pm until midnight, denied food or
water, and denied the opportunity to use a restroom, all without having
received any warnings as to her rights.
Nancy
Genovese also had a left lower leg injury just above her ankle that she had
received earlier in the day and which, exacerbated by the stress and length of
her roadside detention, was causing her to limp. When the officers saw this,
they ordered her to expose her wound, which was bleeding, for no legitimate
purpose, and with no regard for Nancy’s health or well-being. Members of the
Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office used Nancy’s leg wound as another object to
taunt her with, telling her that they were going to arrest her for an
unreported knife wound.
Here’s
where the story takes an interesting twist, and why I believe Nancy’s situation
hasn’t received more press coverage. Before arriving at the airport to take a
picture, earlier that day Nancy had been to the local shooting range with her
rifle practicing her hobby, target shooting. During the first hour of
questioning, Lieutenant Iberger searched Nancy’s vehicle, without her consent,
and came across her unloaded rifle, which Nancy was legally carrying, in a
locked case. Now some people throw up their arms (no pun intended) at this
point, and say, “what does she want, she brought a rifle to the airport!”, but
I would like to remind everyone that it is perfectly legal to drive around with
an unloaded rifle in your car. Yes. Really. And Nancy did not enter the
airport, she was parked alongside a public roadway. It is important to remember
that no matter how you feel about firearms, nothing that Nancy did violated any
laws.
Using
force, Lieutenant Iberger pushed Nancy Genovese when she objected to the
seizure of her rifle. Deputy Carlock taunted Nancy, asking in a disparaging
tone, “You’re a real right winger, aren’t you?”, and stating in words or
substance that she was never going to see her rifle again.
During
the remainder of the six hours that Nancy Genovese was forcibly detained on the
side of the road, she was taunted, verbally harangued, threatened, belittled,
abused, humiliated and harassed by members of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s
Office. For example, Deputy Carlock repeatedly referred to Nancy as “a right
winger” and “tea bagger”, and threatened that they were going to arrest her for
terrorism to make an example of her to other “tea baggers” and “right wingers”.
Around
midnight, officials from the airport and federal law enforcement agencies
determined that Nancy posed no terrorist or other security threat. Once most of
the other law enforcement officials left the scene, Deputy Carlock ordered
Nancy Genovese to be handcuffed by another member of the Suffolk County
Sheriff’s Office. Before placed in handcuffs, Nancy attempted to give her purse
containing her wallet and cell phone to her sons. Her wallet contained
approximately $13,000 in cash, money she was holding to pay tuition that day
for her son’s college and her daughter’s Catholic school tuition. Deputy
Carlock refused to allow her sons to take her bag, and ordered her to leave it
on the front seat of her unlocked vehicle, even after being informed of the
value of its contents. When Nancy’s sons objected, Deputy Carlock threatened to
arrest them if they touched it, and ordered them to leave the scene. Not
knowing what to do, they left.
When
Nancy’s sons responded to a call from the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office in
the early morning hours to pick up their mother’s vehicle from the roadside,
they found $5,300 of the $13,000 missing. The money was never returned. In
addition, the contents of the glove compartment box was missing, and there was
damage to the body of the car, particularly around the trunk.
Around
midnight, after her sons were ordered to leave upon threat of arrest, Nancy was
transported, in handcuffs, to the Suffolk County Jail. While in a holding cell,
Deputy Carlock continued to verbally harass Nancy, telling her “you will pay”,
and admitting that they had nothing to charge her with, but that he would “find
something in order to teach all right wingers and tea baggers a lesson.”
While
in her holding cell, Nancy Genovese was interrogated by Suffolk County
Undersheriff Caracappa without receiving any warnings as to her rights. Her
requests to speak to a lawyer were ignored. Following her “interrogation”,
Undersheriff Caracappa informed her that she was being arrested and charged
with “terrorism.”
At
this point, Nancy requested medial treatment for her bleeding and painful left
leg. After several requests, and several hours later, she was taken to the
Peconic Bay Medical Center by male members of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s
Office, and handcuffed to a bed. A sonogram was performed on Nancy’s left leg
from her ankle to her inner groin, requiring her to disrobe. Despite her and
the doctor’s request for them to turn away, the two male Suffolk Deputies
insisted on staring at Nancy while she disrobed, further humiliating her. She
was prescribed antibiotics, and discharged back to the Suffolk County Jail,
with instructions on proper care for her leg wound.
Once
back at the jail, the Suffolk County Sheriffs denied her access to her
antibiotics, and denied her proper care of her leg wound. This caused a serious
and painful staph infection to develop.
The
following morning, Nancy Genovese was briefly questioned at the Suffolk County
Jail by two FBI agents. No federal complaints or charges were ever brought
against Nancy. That same day, Nancy was transported in handcuffs and ankle
shackles, with no regard for her ankle wound, to the Southampton Justice Town
Court. The driver drove fast and recklessly, intentionally making abrupt turns
and laughing. This caused Nancy, who was not secured by a seatbelt, but was
instead restrained with her hands cuffed behind her and her ankles cuffed
together, to roll about in the back of the vehicle, further exacerbating her
leg injury. When she requested that the Deputy Sheriffs secure her with a
seatbelt, they laughed at her, and the driver continued to recklessly swerve
the vehicle.
Nancy
Genovese was brought into the courthouse in handcuffs and leg restraints, and
was violently pushed through the door by the Deputy Sheriffs. This added to
Nancy’s humiliation, particularly since Nancy knew some of the courthouse
employees and other people who were present. Both before and after arriving at
the courthouse, Nancy repeatedly requested to speak with an attorney. All of
her requests were ignored.
Despite
never stepping foot onto airport property, Nancy Genovese was arraigned on a
single misdemeanor charge of Criminal Trespass in the Third Degree. She was
assigned a Legal Aid Attorney by the Judge. Undersheriff Caracappa and Deputy
Carlock intentionally lied to the Judge about the circumstances surrounding
Nancy’s arrest, including that she was a terrorist and had surveillance
equipment in her car, and the judge set bail in the amount of $50,000.
Due
to the excessive amount of bail, Nancy’s children needed more time to come up
with the money, so Nancy was returned to the jail. The Legal Aid Attorney
assigned to Nancy spoke with the Deputy and Undersheriff, and due to the
conversation, directly afterwards informed Nancy that he was no longer her attorney,
and that he was going to ask the court to place her on suicide watch.
Once
back at the jail, Nancy Genovese was processed, including being issued prison
“greens” to wear, and was photographed, fingerprinted, and eye scanned. Members
of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department continuously verbally harassed
Nancy. A woman in civilian clothes then interviewed Nancy. The woman told Nancy
she was going to be placed in “general population.” During the interview, two
men wearing “Suffolk County Emergency Response Team” jackets entered the room.
One of them removed Nancy from the room and held her in the hallway outside of
the interview room. From there, Nancy heard the woman who had interviewed her
arguing with the other man, saying that “She is not suicidal.”
Despite
the woman’s protests, Nancy was physically moved by the two men wearing
“Suffolk County Emergency Response Team” jackets to another room. There,
another woman who identified herself as a nurse administered, without Nancy’s
consent, two injections into Nancy’s arm. One of the men held Nancy’s head so
that she could not see what was being done, while the other man held Nancy’s
arm down. Despite her demands to know what they were doing, no one answered
her. Nancy experienced bruising and swelling in her neck and arm long after she
was released from custody.
Nancy
was then escorted by the two men into a cell area, where she was forced to
disrobe and put on a “suicide gown”, consisting of a heavy, jacket-type blanket
that fastens around the body with Velcro. Nancy was not permitted to wear
undergarments under the blanket. Nancy was required to wear this same “suicide
gown” for the next several days. After three days, Nancy was evaluated by a
psychiatrist who determined her to be of sound and stable mind, and immediately
removed her from suicide watch.
Later
that day, bail was posted, and Nancy was able to go home. Subsequently, all
charges against Nancy were dismissed.
Upon
Nancy’s release, Undersheriff Caracappa issued a press release in response to media
inquiries, titled “Armed Woman Arrested for Trespassing at Suffolk County
Gabreski Airport”, which falsely stated that Nancy had been taking pictures of
the airport and surrounding security”, and that she became hysterical, and
began “screaming and flailing around” when confronted. Undersheriff Caracappa
also falsely reported that Nancy had surveillance equipment, 500 rounds of
ammunition, and “scary weapons” in her car, and that she was a right-wing
extremist and terrorist, and that she had been at the airport trespassing
several times and had been warned to stay away. Upon further inquiry, it turns
out that Nancy had never trespassed at the airport before, had never been
warned by anyone to “stay away” before, had no “surveillance equipment” of any kind
other than her point and shoot camera, and certainly was not a terrorist.
Undersheriff Caracappa has refused to issue a retraction or correction.
Nancy
has filed a Federal Lawsuit seeking up to 70 million dollars from the Town of
Southampton, the County of Suffolk, Lieutenant Iberger, Undersheriff Caracappa,
Deputy Carlock, Lieutenant Leuete, and various other employees of the Suffolk
County Sheriff’s Department. The lawsuit is still ongoing.