New York City police are searching for the suspects who trashed a squad car on Halloween night when officers responded to a domestic disturbance call.
Filmed by people in the neighborhood, the officers can be seen clearing the garbage that was stacked on top of the car. One officer told the people who had gathered around and were taunting them, "A lot of people call 911 in this neighborhood. They’re holding us up."
The owner of a local bodega told CBS2 he saw adults defacing the car, but the store's security cameras were not facing the direction the car was parked. He said when the officers walked up to the vehicle, some of the trash was burning.
“It’s not a prank in any sense of imagination. I mean, what they do is they slow the response time down to this patrol car or wherever they need to be which puts the public safety in danger,” retired NYPD Detective Sergeant Joseph Giacalone told CBS2.
The vandalism occurred just days before massive protests were organized in response to police going after fare evaders on the city's subway system. In addition to marches, large numbers of protesters jumped over the subway's payment system. Because of the amount of fare evaders, police gave up and stopped trying to arrest people.
"No more cops in our community! Fuck the pigs! No more comrades in jail! Fuck the pigs!"
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) November 2, 2019
Last night, 100's of New York activists gathered and marched in opposition to police violence, especially against fair evaders on the subway.
They say such enforcement is enforced poverty. pic.twitter.com/kBc9IfCEWq
Here is the version with original sound if people need it for different uses pic.twitter.com/nAb7H5N7CU
— rafael (@rafaelshimunov) November 3, 2019