COURIER L 12 IFE, MARCH 15–21, 2019 G
THREAT
Continued from cover
Barbot. “All students and staff are
safe.”
But Education Department leaders
failed to notify Bay Academy parents
of the threat until the morning that
the alleged shooting was set to take
place — after students already showed
up for class, according to Councilman
Chaim Deutsch (D–Sheepshead Bay).
“It’s totally unacceptable how the
process went down,” he said. “It took
about eight hours, and they only sent
out the notice at 9 am, after schools
start at 7:45 am. It’s common sense that
you should send it out before school
starts the next day.”
The delay sparked confusion among
many moms and dads awaiting an offi -
cial response after their kids saw the
menacing post, claimed the pol, who
said many of those parents proactively
pulled their children from class while
Education Department offi cials got
around to addressing the incident.
“I would not feel comfortable having
my kids go into school without
hearing from DOE,” Deutsch said.
The councilman alerted offi cers
with the Police Department’s Counterterrorism
Division and other offi cials
after a constituent told him about the
post at 11:30 pm the day it appeared, he
said, to ensure the middle school and
its students were secure before the
fi rst bell rang on the day of the alleged
threat.
“We made sure there was a strong
police presence outside the school,” he
said. “Making sure kids are safe is our
number one priority.”
And Bay Academy’s principal ultimately
excused the absences of kids
who stayed home before offi cials’ formally
addressed the threat.
“Some families choose to keep their
children out of school in light of the
reported threat. We will be deeming
such absences excused for such children,”
Maria Timo said in a statement
sent to parents after school began on
March 7.
Following the incident, Deutsch
promised to push for legislation that
would establish standard protocols
for city educators to follow when responding
to future threats, because
he claimed no such set guidelines currently
exist.
“I put in a bill to have a protocol.
DOE should have a better protocol for
how they should respond to an emergency
situation,” he said. “DOE needs
to show ownership, leadership and responsibility.”
CONEY COPS
about losing the public’s trust were
“not a reasonable ground for disqualifi
cation.”
The woman’s lawyer, however, argued
the district attorney’s offi ce was
not justifi ed in dropping the charges,
claiming that the defendants’ attorneys
assailed his client’s credibility
in an effort to pressure prosecutors,
whom he said ultimately chose to drop
certain charges based on their frustrations
with the 18-year-old.
“The defense was trying to say well,
look at these false accusations, maybe
she’s not credible — they pressured
the DA,” said Michael David. “We saw
this coming, because a few weeks ago,
before the trial was starting, the DA
wanted her to accept reduced charges
and she wanted the rape charges to go
ahead — when that happened, they
turned on her.”
Hall and Martins now face up to
seven years in prison if convicted of
the top charge in their 11-count indictment,
which includes nine counts
of offi cial misconduct and two counts
of taking bribes. Previously, the two
faced as many as 25 years behind bars
if convicted of the top charge in their
former 50-count indictment, which included
multiple counts of rape.
The former detectives, who worked
as part of the Brooklyn South Narcotics
Unit, quit the force days after their
2017 arraignment on the 50-count indictment
, when they pleaded “not
guilty” to the rape and kidnapping
charges and were released on bail.
Their departure came days before
the two were set to face an internal
trial about the incident, which
occurred in September 2017, after
the pair arrested the woman in Gravesend’s
Calvert Vaux Park for allegedly
possessing small amounts of
anti-depressants, marijuana, and prescription
pills.
The woman claimed the pair never
phoned the arrest in to the 60th Precinct,
instead telling her they would
release her with a lesser penalty if
she complied with their demands.
The detectives then allegedly took the
woman on a drive through Southern
Brooklyn that ended in the parking lot
of a Cropsey Avenue Chipotle between
Bay 52nd and 53rd streets, where they
took turns forcing her to give them
oral sex in the back of the van, before
Martins raped her, according to her
attorney.
Following the alleged assault, the
detectives dropped the woman off at
a Blink Fitness on W. Eighth Street,
between Surf and Neptune avenues,
just down the road from the 60th Precinct’s
station house, David claimed.
The woman’s mother took her to the
hospital that night, where doctors performed
a rape kit — which found Hall
and Martins’ genetic material on the
defendant, prompting the detectives
to argue the sex acts were consensual,
a claim the woman denied.
The former cops’ claim of consent
prompted Councilman Mark Treyger
(D–Coney Island) to introduce legislation
prohibiting law-enforcement offi
cials from claiming such acts with
people in their custody are consensual,
which state lawmakers signed
into law last spring as part of Gov.
Cuomo’s executive budget.
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