Garner video guy busted
Ramsey Orta, above, who shot the video of Eric Garner’s death nearly a year ago during a police arrest on Staten Island, was busted for selling drugs to an undercover narcotics cop on Avenue D last week — but it turned out there was more to the story.
Orta, 23, was arrested on Tues., June 30, at 6:30 p.m., at the corner of E. Sixth St. and D — on the border between the Lillian Wald Houses and Jacob Riis Houses — and charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance.
The undercover said Orta approached him and told him he could get him “bud” or “Molly,” slang for marijuana and MDMA a.k.a. Ecstasy, respectively. The cop asked for Molly and gave Orta $40 for three clear zip-lock bags containing a “brown crystalline substance.” Subsequent police lab testing, however, proved it was not Ecstasy.
As a result, Orta was recharged with four offenses: imitation controlled substance; criminal possession of stolen property (for taking the $40 in return for fake drugs); petit larceny; and fraudulent accosting.
His bail was reduced from $15,000 bond or $7,500 cash to $8,000 bond or $4,000 cash.
Orta has reportedly been arrested at least 29 times, according to the Daily News. A GoFundMe.com page started to cover his escalating legal fees has raised more than $55,000.
He was busted in February for allegedly selling drugs to an undercover and also last August on gun charges. Orta has said the arrests are payback by police for his filming Garner’s death — during which a banned police chokehold was used — last July 17.
Garner was being busted for selling untaxed “loosie” cigarettes. Orta’s video went viral and fueled the Black Lives Matter police-reform campaign.
Punched over pooch
Police said that a man struck a woman in front of 1 Washington Square Village on Sun., July 5, after they had starting arguing about a dog.
After the dispute began around 6 a.m., Carl Yamamoto-Furst, 41, allegedly struck the 36-year-old disabled woman in the throat. The victim suffered bruising and pain. She was taken to Beth Israel Hospital for treatment, according to a police report. A 53-year-old Washington Square Village resident told police he witnessed the altercation.
Yamamoto-Furst was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault.
Taking license
Police said they observed Derrick Williams, 55, operating a 2001 Ford Econoline van near 7 Weehawken St. in the wee hours of Sat., July 4. He apparently was not doing well, because they stopped him just after 4 a.m. and soon found that his New York State license plate was registered to another automobile. They subsequently examined the vehicle ID number and found that the van was reported stolen on June 26 in Yonkers by its owner, a 31-year-old woman.
The police searched Williams and found his driver’s license was suspended and that he was in possession of an allegedly illegal gravity knife. Williams was arrested and charged with unauthorized operation of a motor vehicle, a felony.
Lost his independence
Police manning a sobriety checkpoint at Washington and W. Houston Sts. around 2 a.m. on Independence Day reportedly observed a driver with an open container of alcohol, in addition to an empty plastic cup smelling of booze. Police reported they smelled a bit of ganja, as well.
Salim Laverpool, 36, refused a breathalyzer test at the scene. He was promptly taken to the Police Department’s Seventh Precinct on the Lower East Side. Laverpool, who had prior convictions for driving while intoxicated, was given another misdemeanor charge for the same offense.
Feeling the gravity
Arguing in public sent one parolee back to the slammer on Thurs., July 2. An officer passing by 248 W. 14th St. around 4 a.m. observed a man arguing with a taxi driver in front of the location. Further investigation allegedly revealed a gravity knife in the possession of John Doe, 30. The ponytailed Brooklyn resident then allegedly resisted arrest by “running from, elbowing and punching” the officer, according to a police report.
Doe was arrested and charged with felony criminal possession of a weapon. Police said he has a previous conviction for grand larceny.
Vicious vacation
Vacation in the West Village went rather violently for one visiting couple. A man, 42, reportedly escalated his abuse of his girlfriend, 37, over the course of several days, starting on June 26.
He started with words then pushed her into walls, police said. The furniture then became his alleged weapons of choice, resulting in cuts to the victim’s left forearm.
Danny Gardner, an Australian native, then allegedly kicked the woman, causing bruises to her back. Police said his abuse culminated in his choking her three times, to the point that she almost lost consciousness.
The victim reportedly refused medical attention. A ripped jacked was also found at the scene, according to a police report. Gardner was arrested June 30. He was charged with strangulation, a felony.
— Zach Williams and Lincoln Anderson
