NEW YORK -- A New York Police Department officer was charged Monday with falsely arresting a black man, then later using a racial slur while recounting the arrest in a phone call.
A criminal complaint also accuses Michael Daragjati -- the target of an NYPD internal affairs investigation -- of being involved in separate off-duty extortion and insurance fraud schemes.
Daragjati, 32, who is white, was ordered held without bail at an appearance Monday in federal court in Brooklyn, said Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office. There was no immediate response to a phone message left with his attorney.
The arrest was made under the so-called "stop and frisk" strategy by the NYPD that resulted in street stops of more than 500,000 people last year. According to the complaint, Daragjati stopped and frisked the man in April on Staten Island without proper cause.
The complaint says that when the man complained, the officer arrested him and filed a false report saying he had resisted arrest.
Federal authorities say they later intercepted a phone call between Daragjati and a friend. They say the officer was overheard using a racial slur while recounting the arrest.
-- Associated Press
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