By Dana Williams
Responding to complaints about a rowdy group of Hispanic patrons, Argueta said police wrongly assumed he was with the raucous bunch - who were at a nearby table - and demanded that Argueta and his friends leave the eatery.
Argueta, 29, refused, and said he asked the officers to get the manager, saying that he did nothing wrong, and demanded an explanation as to why he was being kicked out. Instead, Argueta said, the officers grabbed him, threw him to the ground, called him names, and placed him in handcuffs.
"The officers yanked me off of my chair, kneed me, handcuffed me and dragged me to the front of the diner," Argueta said. "They never told me I was under arrest, and they never informed me of anything."
That experience has prompted Argueta to sue the Nassau County District Attorney's Office and Police Department.
"If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything," said Argueta, a 1996 Baldwin High School graduate. "What we are trying to do with my situation is highlight the fact that the legal system is wrong because I did nothing wrong, and the county officials need to admit to that."
Argueta announced his intention to sue at a press conference in front of the Nassau County Supreme Court building on July 5. Argueta, who said he didn't know the rowdy individuals at the diner on Feb. 18, 2006, claims that six Third Precinct police officers asked only the Hispanic patrons to leave. "There were other people in the restaurant, and none of them were asked to leave," Argueta's attorney, Frederick K. Brewington, said.
Nassau police spokesman Vincent Garcia said the department is not allowed to comment on "pending litigation and lawsuits."
Argueta is a former gang member turned activist, and is the president of Struggling to Reunite Our New Generation (S.T.R.O.N.G.), a Long Island youth-driven and multi-ethnic organization that addresses youth issues and gang violence. Argueta, who has a Master's degree from Stony Brook University, frequently visits local high schools to educate young people about the perils of gang life, often speaking alongside police officials and Nassau County legislators.
Argueta said he was charged with Trespassing and Resisting Arrest. Those charges have been re-instituted twice by District Attorney Kathleen Rice, he said. At two court hearings, Argueta pleaded not guilty to both charges, and they were dismissed both times by District Court Judge Dana Mitchell Jaffe. The charges, however, have recently been reinstated for a third time by Rice. Rice did not return calls for comment.
Brewington said Rice and county officials are being vindictive because Argueta refused to accept a plea bargain.
"In this situation, what these officials have attempted to do is take a person who has absolutely no record, and put him in the system," Brewington said. "Once you are in the system, you can't get out, and that's the game for young African-American and Hispanic men - to get them in the system."
"I've been going to court for 17 months now, and I could easily plead guilty tomorrow and pay a violation fee, but I refuse," Argueta added. "I refuse to admit guilt to something that I have not done."
Argueta's community activism includes his work as the Principal of Nassau County's Violence Intervention Project. After the officers searched his pockets, Argueta said they found his Nassau County identification, and one officer suggested that he would have been treated differently if they knew about his county affiliations.
"They [the officers] found my ID and found out I worked with the police department and the District Attorney's office, and one officer said to me, 'Why didn't you tell me?'" Argueta said. "It didn't matter who I was affiliated with because I should not have been treated that way at all."
Brewington said that Argueta is seeking to have the charges dropped, and wants a public apology and monetary compensation. Brewington also said Rice has continued to offer plea bargains, but Argueta will not accept because he is "innocent," and he believes that pleading guilty would send the wrong message to kids.
"I'm not only here representing myself, I'm representing a community, and the thousands of kids that I talk with on a yearly basis," Argueta said. "I need to help change things, so this doesn't happen to anyone else."
