Cops sure had a “Sixth Sense” about this one.
A Staten Island mugging victim claims cops dragged him to a psych ward after he mentioned one of his attackers looked like someone he knew who had died.
Cops mistook that to mean, “I see dead people,” according to a lawsuit.
Glenn Garofano, 70, called 911 after he was assaulted by three men who stole cash, a pinkie ring, and a gold chain from him while he was on a late-night stroll in Meiers Corners.
Responding officers asked if he knew his assailants.
“I said, ‘I don’t know who the guy is, but he looks like [an acquaintance],” who had passed away, he claimed.
Sgt. Sean Tiernan then inexplicably said, “We’re putting you in a mental hospital because you said you see dead people,” Garofano alleged.
“Oh my God, you’re putting words in my mouth,” a stunned Garofano answered, asking Tiernan’s fellow officers to step in, to no avail.
He then spent about 45 minutes at Richmond University Medical Center, where doctors evaluated and quickly released him, according to the Brooklyn Federal Court lawsuit against the city and Tiernan.
“It was very traumatizing,” Garofano told The Post. “I was one big joke” to them.
The officers also searched the home of Garofano’s relatives, where he was staying during a month-long visit. The unannounced search frightened Garofano’s sister, seriously ill with Multiple Sclerosis, and a nearly 100-year-old mother.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated Garofano’s complaint.
Garofano, who said he’s now on Xanax and sleeping pills and is fearful of police, is seeking unspecified damages. His lawyer, Richard Cardinale, said it’s unclear if the officers even took a report of the mugging.
The NYPD declined to comment.
