The tribe has spoken and the winner declared. As we said all along, Detective José Quinoy emerged as the winner of this summer’s “Survival” game. As was expected and predicted on this blog, Federal Judge Karas today ruled José Quinoy would not be retried on a Federal civil rights charge.
So what does this mean for Sleepy Hollow? One would hope the village would get back to the business of day to day operations, but that is somewhat doubtful. At this juncture, we not only have officer Quinoy fully aquitted, but remember, he also is the top scorer in the Police Chief’s exam. One must wonder if Acting Police Chief John Kapica might actually be able to retire now. But in a world where the bizarre has become common place, Sleepy Hollow was to be found in the news earlier this week. Officer Quinoy was a player in that story as well, but it seems there was no starring role for him.
On Thursday, August 26th, 2010, the Village of Sleepy Hollow settled a lawsuit brought forth by Duanny Mota. Duanny was the boy who was allegedly tasered by Officer Quinoy for riding his bicycle on the sidewalk back in 2007 when he was only 16 years of age. Young Mota had originally filed an $80 million lawsuit against the village but ended up settling the suit for $200,000. The Mota family apparently is none too happy with this pittance but was advised to settle as his court costs were ticking away like a runaway taximeter. Interestingly enough, during the discovery phase of the case, it appears that young Mota was not tasered by Quinoy, but was tasered by his partner, rookie Officer Paul Nelson. One must wonder why Quinoy was the one accused of this act. Was he just being an über protective partner who fell on the sword for the rookie, or did Janet Gandolfo, lovingly known as “Big Momma”, instruct those who gave witness statements to bend the truth ever so slightly to say that Quinoy was the taser master.
Hmmm…. there might just be a shred of truth to that theory since Ms. Gandolfo also was Duanny Mota’s attorney. But Wait…. Hold the presses… isn’t Janet Gandolfo also the village attorney? How the heck can she represent a kid who is suing the village? Isn’t that an ethics violation? Holy corruption Batman…. I think that the ethics board needs to jump onto 287 westbound and check this out when they’re done with White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley’s investigation. rest assured we will be checking into Ms. Gandolfo’s activities throughout the upcoming year to see what she is up to in her village.
This is the sort of Donkey Poo that seems to go on in every municipality in Westchester. Corruption is corruption, be it Sleepy Hollow, Yonkers, Mount Vernon, or Elmsford, where it appears that they are playing their own game of “Survivor” with the members of the Elmsford Police Department. For the past five months there has been an internal investigation concerning Police Officer Mark Danuff who was scheduled to retire ( at the age of 43). Danuff, like Quinoy is a chap with a hot temper and dislike of diversity. His first stop with the Mount Vernon Police Department ended rather poorly after Danuff allegedly used racially offensive language against a colleague. His tenure in Elmsford seemed to be bumping along until Officer Danuff was reported to have slipped into a couple of stores after hours. The word on the street is that he was in Technic Dry Cleaners and another store in the Staples Plaza on the border ofGreenburgh and Elmsford after hours. It is unclear as to whether he stole anything or was just “creeping around”. Village employees who spoke with this reporter had similar but differing stories.
The “vox populi” all have an opinion. And, “Yes!”, some folks have accused Officer Danuff of stealing. Others were quick to say that this would be covered up because one of the stores was owned by a police officer in a neighboring town and would not press charges. Nonetheless, the Freedom of Information Law (F.O.I.L.) request obtained by Westchester Herald / Yonkers Tribune reveals precious little of any of the original internal charges. There apparently was not enough to file criminal charges so a deal was allegedly struck. No surprise there. But what really frosts the folks in Elmsford is the deal that was struck allowed Officer Danuff to turn in his uniform and personal effects on May 27, 2010, but remain on the job using his accrued sick, personal and vacation time. This allowed him to bump his salary at retirement to $91,137.00 and those extra few months accrued to a full 20 years of service. Wow, that is enormous! In the middle of a severe recession, we have a 43 year old diversity hating creeper retiring with a humongous pension. No wonder the people of Elmsford are pissed off.
So here we have the tale of two, teeny tiny, villages who have difficulty controlling their police officers. Sadly enough this seems to be the norm rather than the exception. Nothing surprises this reporter anymore. Police officers are supposed to protect and serve but it seems all to common that they feel that their job description includes how to get over on others. As long as they believe this to be true, we will remain vigilant to call them out on it.
