Days after NYPD arrested Ramsey Orta, the man who videotaped Eric Garner’s chokehold death, authorities also arrested his wife in Staten Island.
Chrissie Ortiz, 30, was picked up on assault charges after a dispute with a female in front of 206 Bay St., an NYPD spokesman said. Ortiz was arrested just steps from the area where police placed Garner in the chokehold that led to his death on July 17.
According to the Staten Island Advance:
She was taken to the 120th Precinct and has been released on a desk appearance ticket, the spokesman said.
Ms. Ortiz faces a misdemeanor assault charge.
If you recall, Orta was arrested on Saturday after police said he tried to hide a gun on a 17-year-old girl. Orta, according to SIA, is a convicted felon with 26 adult arrests. He remains in police custody on $75,000 bail.
Orta’s video of Garner’s death has since gone viral, being the only documentation that an officer placed Garner in a chokehold — a restraining practice that has been banned from police use in New York. Garner’s death was ruled a homicide last week.
But in response to Orta’s video, police union president Patrick Lynch denounced the Staten Island resident, seeking to discredit him.
“It is criminals like Mr. Orta who carry illegal firearms who stand to benefit the most by demonizing the good work of police officers.”
Orta and his wife insist they were framed as a way to discredit Orta’s testimony when the time comes.
“They park across the street, they follow him,” Ortiz said. “I’m speaking [about] the NYPD. It’s obvious. Once they rule this a homicide, now you all of a sudden find something on him? Come on, let’s be realistic. Even the dumbest criminal would know not to be doing something like that outside. So the whole story doesn’t fit at all.”
We’ll keep you updated with the latest.
SOURCE: SIA, Gothamist, Think Progress | PHOTO CREDIT: Screengrab
