2 victims say NYPD downgraded crimes

NEW YORK (WABC) -- John Jewett says he was victimized twice. First, by a young man he met at a bar and then by the Midtown North Precinct. It all began, last March when the man he met allegedly attacked him with a wood table and threatened to kill him. Police responded, and Jewett was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. He had a fractured rib, numerous cuts and bruises and broken teeth.

Jewett says that the police did everything in their power not to have him file complaint. When he went to the Precinct to get the assault report, he was told there was no record of the incident. For weeks, he pleaded with the Precinct to file it as a crime and charge the man who attacked him.

"They didn't want to report it, they didn't want a statistic," Jewett said.

The NYPD says that the night of the incident that Mr. Jewett stated he was NOT assaulted. But then they say he changed his mind six months later after being contacted by the victim's compensation board. However, Jewett says police never questioned him that night, and it was obvious he sustained serious injuries since he was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Two months after Jewett was attacked, his alleged assailant went on a crime spree in Connecticut, and was charged with threatening someone with a knife, stealing a car, and fleeing police in a high-speed chase.

One year after Jewett was attacked, the felony charges were filed against that man, however Jewett suspected that police just wanted the crime to go away.

The NYPD apparently wanted to go away too. The 75-year-old keeps busy by looking for discarded items left on the curb which she then sells on ebay. But during her hunt for valuables a few months ago, a young woman assaulted her:

"She grabbed my wrist; she didn't make me fall. She slammed me against the concrete sidewalk - I wound up with my head almost to the door there," said Lou Ellen Davis.

Davis was treated for head injuries and a concussion by her doctor. During that time, she made repeated attempts to get a detective at the 108th precinct to take her assault seriously.

"He obviously did not want to do anything with this case. It's obvious because of the way he did not call me back, despite my repeated calls and my repeated messages," said Davis.

Fourteen days later her assailant was charged, but not with a felony. Instead, the assailant was charged with third degree assault, a misdemeanor. The NYPD's own guidelines clearly state that "intent to cause personal injury to a person 65 or over by a person more than 10 years younger than the victim" is a felony assault.

"Somebody wants themselves to look good that the crime in New York is down. I did not know until recently that misdemeanors are not counted in crimes. I learned that recently.

Davis has been issued an order of protection against her assailant.

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Follow Jim Hoffer on Twitter at twitter.com/nycinvestigates and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jimhoffer.wabc

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