By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times
A hardworking businessman in Morris Heights, Mr. Delacruz says he is tired of getting arrested because he shares an uncanny physical likeness along with the same last name and birth date as former drug dealer, Jose "El Toro" Delacruz, who was recently deported back to the Dominican Republic.
Mr. Delacruz, and his civil attorney say the NYPD doesn't seem to give a flying fig about mistakenly arresting the same person over and over again, so a fed-up Delacruz is threatening to sue.
The man, who owns a deli in the South Bronx, has been yoked up by police so many times he's forced to tote a certified court document around with him. The document explains he is not El Toro Delacruz, a man who once ran a narcotics consortium in the Soundview section of the South Bronx during the 1980s and served a year in prison, but it's done little, if anything to prevent Delacruz from being arrested.
Mr. Delacruz, 50, says he's been arrested a total of four times, was interrogated by the FBI, was almost deported himself and even went before Manhattan Judge Charles Solomon who was also bewildered by the law enforcement blunder, although he agreed Mr. Delacruz looked like the ex-con who is wanted in connection with a cocaine possession charge from 1999.
The long-suffering Delacruz, who pleaded guilty to an attempted burglary charge in 1993, says he lives in constant fear and is tired of getting cuffed and roughed up by police officers who do not believe his cries of mistaken identity.
Background checks Delacruz must undergo when applying for jobs have only added to his pain. The Taxi and Limousine Commission refused him licensure, and as if that wasn't bad enough, Mr. Delacruz spent four harrowing days in Rikers Island's The Tombs until federal authorities realized they had the wrong man. His law-enforcement-popular name also led to an arrest in Orlando, Florida where police thought they nabbed a wanted fugitive during a routine traffic stop.
All of the confusion and grief has prompted Delacruz to notify the City of his intent to sue the New York City Police Department for $1 million...and there's no mistaking about that. His attorney, Elliot Kay says the mistaken arrests are inexcusable and it is obvious the police don't care.
The long-suffering Delacruz, who pleaded guilty to an attempted burglary charge in 1993, says he lives in constant fear and is tired of getting cuffed and roughed up by police officers who do not believe his cries of mistaken identity.
Background checks Delacruz must undergo when applying for jobs have only added to his pain. The Taxi and Limousine Commission refused him licensure, and as if that wasn't bad enough, Mr. Delacruz spent four harrowing days in Rikers Island's The Tombs until federal authorities realized they had the wrong man. His law-enforcement-popular name also led to an arrest in Orlando, Florida where police thought they nabbed a wanted fugitive during a routine traffic stop.
All of the confusion and grief has prompted Delacruz to notify the City of his intent to sue the New York City Police Department for $1 million...and there's no mistaking about that. His attorney, Elliot Kay says the mistaken arrests are inexcusable and it is obvious the police don't care.
Kay said his client's prints do not match those of the wanted fugitive and the police have ignored the certified court document indicating Mr. Delacruz is not a fugitive from justice.
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