Another cop \u2014 this time a detective! \u2014 has been held accountable for the agency\u2019s abuse of a Brooklyn man who just wanted to report illegal parking.<\/p>\n
Streetsblog readers know the case well: In 2021, we first reported<\/a> how Justin Sherwood (then anonymous) had started receiving harassing phone calls from cops after he complained to 311 about officers stashing their private cars in the bike lane and on the sidewalk on Schermerhorn Street. A day after our first story about the harassment was published, one of the cops harassed him again, prompting another story<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two years later<\/a>, the city ended up reaching a sizable settlement with Sherwood. But he and his lawyer was unimpressed given that, despite the settlement, the NYPD had not disciplined the officers.<\/p>\n But that started changing as the city Conflicts of Interest Board got involved. In late 2023<\/a>, Officer John Madera of the 84th Precinct agreed to pay $500 and surrender 15 vacation days in a settlement with the board.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, we learned that another police official \u2014\u00a0Det. Samantha Sturman \u2014 had agreed to pay a $6,500 fine in her own settlement with the Conflicts of Interest Board. Sturman, according to board documents told Sherwood to \u201cstop calling, dickhead,\u201d and then issued a veiled warning via text message to Sherwood\u2019s personal cell phone, \u201cKeep fucking around.\u201d (The investigation revealed that Sturman wasn\u2019t merely reacting impulsively \u2014\u00a0she had undertaken considerable work to try to hide her identity from Sherwood, having first downloaded an app called TextNow that allows users to select and use a phone number to make free calls and send text messages.)<\/p>\n Sturman was punished, the board said in a statement, because she \u201cabused her access to confidential information [i.e. Sherwood\u2019s phone number] to advance her private interests.\u201d<\/p>\n An NYPD detective who targeted and harassed a neighbor for reporting illegal police parking in Downtown Brooklyn will be fined $6,500 by the City’s Conflicts of Interest Board. <\/p>\n I\u2019m glad there will be accountability for this disturbing abuse of power.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lincoln Restler (@LincolnRestler) October 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Sherwood is not the only Brooklyn resident who has won some measure of revenge over police who harassed them for making 311 complaints of illegal police parking. The late Paul Vogel<\/a> had been subject to egregious abuse from Officer Brendan Sullivan, who made sexually suggestive phone calls, including using animal sounds<\/a>. Sullivan was later demoted with lower pay<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite the Conflicts of Interest Board\u2019s findings against Sturman, Sherwood was still frustrated by the entire process.<\/p>\n \u201cThe COIB\u2019s penalty is the first substantial repercussion Det. Sturman is facing \u2026 but both Madera and Sturman should\u2019ve faced criminal charges and been terminated for their conduct,\u201d Sherwood told Streetsblog.<\/p>\n \u201cI agree with the [Conflict Board] statement: Det. Sturman \u2018is in a position of public trust\u2019 and that her \u2018egregious abuse of confidential information \u2026 cannot be tolerated.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In other news:<\/p>\n Council Member Chi Oss\u00e9 has gotten under the New York Post\u2019s skin before \u2014\u00a0he\u2019s a liberal, after all \u2014 but Rupert Revanchists are about to go full bore on the Brooklyn lawmaker. Yesterday, the tabloid posted a video<\/a> of Oss\u00e9 biking a half block in the wrong direction near City Hall and running a red light. Oss\u00e9 could have just let this be a one-day story, but he went and doubled down (twice!<\/a>) on X.com, meaning that the Post just won\u2019t let this one die:<\/p>\n Only amNY<\/a> followed our story yesterday about the Department of Transportation\u2019s excellent improvement to Avenue B, reducing traffic and making the roadway safer, albeit with a deceptive headline.<\/p>\n The Times<\/a> went full live blog on NJ Transit\u2019s woes.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, commuters\u2019 bus-aster starts on Thursday at the Port Authority bus terminal. (Gothamist<\/a>)<\/p>\n Horse carriages are about to go the way of, well, horse carriages, as Mayor Mamdani and Council Speaker Julie Menin make a deal. (Politico<\/a>, NY Times<\/a>, NYDN<\/a>)<\/p>\n The Staten Island Advance<\/a> finally got around to reheating the Post\u2019s nachos on DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn\u2019s completely reasonable desire to reduce driving.<\/p>\n Speaking of driving on the Rock, an ambulance driver killed a cyclist in a crash. (Gothamist<\/a>, NYDN<\/a>)<\/p>\n Manslaughter charges for the Flushing driver who killed a baby while on drugs. (NYDN<\/a>, QNS<\/a>)<\/p>\n And a Brooklyn man was charged with manslaughter for a hit-and-run earlier this month on deadly Ocean Parkway. (NYDN<\/a>)<\/p>\n Cops have apparently arrested the serial bike thief of Brooklyn. (Williamsburg 365<\/a>)<\/p>\n