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A former New York cop running for Congress was once sued for allegedly detaining an infant, forcing the city to shell out $25,000 to the child’s mother in a settlement.
Republican Alison Esposito is taking on Democratic Representative Pat Ryan in New York’s 18th congressional district which encompasses the upstate cities of Newburgh, Beacon, Kingston, and Poughkeepsie.
Esposito, who was an NYPD officer for more than 20 years, has focused on issues of immigration and crime during her campaign.
“Every victim has a family. Every family hurts. And crime has a ripple effect through our city, through our state, through our communities,” she told Fox News last April.
However twice in her career as a police officer, New York City paid to settle lawsuits from people who accused her of acting illegally.
Esposito was sued by three Black women in 2005 over civil rights violations. In a lawsuit, the women argued they had been wrongfully detained on suspicion of shoplifting. The city later settled the case for $95,000 and the cases against the women were dismissed.
In 2017, Esposito faced allegations that she arrested and assaulted a baby, with the city paying the child’s mother $25,000 in a settlement.
Esposito and a fellow officer went into an apartment building on East 101st Street in 2016 where they “did unlawfully stop, assault, frisk, handcuff, detain, arrest and imprison” infant Rebecca Cuevas, according to a complaint filed by the child’s mother Chantal Vasquez.
Esposito’s lawyer rejected those allegations in a legal filing. Her defense said that the “plaintiffs’ culpable conduct caused or contributed, in whole or in part, to their injuries or damages.” The city of New York later settled the case for $25,000.
The Independent has contacted Esposito’s campaign for comment.
Ben Weiner, a spokesperson for Esposito, rejected the claims in the lawsuits. He told City & State: “When criminals legally and lawfully are brought to justice, they often seek to scapegoat law enforcement via the courts and the city of New York is frequently forced to settle frivolous and baseless lawsuits in order to avoid costly litigation.”
He added: “Alison did not detain or stop, question and frisk an infant. She proudly served the NYPD for over two decades.”
In total, Esposito faced eight complaints via the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board, but none were backed up. Esposito also faced a reprimand when her gun and badge were stolen after she left them in an unlocked car, Politico reported this week.
During her years in the NYPD, she became a deputy inspector and commanding officer of the 70th Precinct, which covers part of Brooklyn. But after protests in the summer of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Esposito became frustrated with the violence that officers faced, she said.
“I looked at the seat I was sitting in, and I looked at the hat I was wearing, and I realized I was sitting in the wrong seat and wearing the wrong hat to effect the change that New York needed,” Esposito said on the Ruthless podcast in May.
The 18th Congressional District, located north of New York City, is the only district in the Hudson Valley that Republicans lost in the 2022 midterms, City & State noted. In that election, Esposito ran as lieutenant governor on a gubernatorial ticket with Republican Lee Zeldin but lost to Democrat Kathy Hochul.
