Two Cops Write Bogus Tickets To Real Motorists

Two Staten Island cops write bogus tickets to real, unsuspecting motorists
The New York Daily News by Rocco Parascandola - February 4, 2011

Two Staten Island cops were busted for writing dozens of phony tickets to motorists. Two Staten Island cops are accused of writing motorists more than 40 bogus tickets while assigned to overtime duty, authorities said. The officers - Stephen Gerwer, 39, and Vincent Adinolfi, 40, of the 122nd Precinct - issued moving violation summons to real motorists last May. The accused officers submitted paperwork to their bosses to make it look like they were doing their jobs, but never gave the summonses to the unsuspecting motorists, sources said. And Adinolfi and Gerwer never gave the summons information to the Department of Motor Vehicles, sources said. The scam may have worked, sources said, if the motorists had appeared in court to appeal the summonses. When supervisors realized Adinolfi and Gerwer did not show up at any hearings an investigation was launched, sources said. It was not clear though how the supervisors came to learn the officers had not appeared in court. Adinolfi and Gerwer, who could face three years in prison, were arraigned Thursday and released without bail. Gerwer was charged with 37 counts - one for each ticket - of tampering with public records, offering a false instrument, second-degree falsifying business records and official misconduct. Adinolfi, accused of writing 10 bogus tickets, faces 10 counts each for the same charges. Gerwer, an eight-year veteran, and Adinolfi, a 17-year veteran, were suspended without pay following their arrests. Their lawyer, Stephen Worth, had no comment. rparascandola@nydailynews.com