An NYPD counterterrorism detective filed a $106 million lawsuit, in Brooklyn Federal Court, claiming he was injured during a rescue operation in the East River two years ago.
Detective Darin Caputo, claims the city failed to provide him with safe tools, equipment and a competent crew of fellow officers while he was on patrol on the NYPD vessel, “TRACS Launch 1.”
While on duty, Caputo spotted a capsized boat in the river after “three men, who had been placing buoys for the Liberty Challenge outrigger competition, were tossed into the water,” according to the lawsuit.
Caputo says he was injured while pulling two of those men to safety. The detective had “severe shock to his nervous system and certain internal and external injuries,” the papers said. His back and neck took the brunt of the punishment, the suit alleges.
“Caputo claims he has suffered severe physical pain and mental anguish as a result of the injuries, which are not specified in the suit,” a NY Daily News article said.
The suit asserts that the city was negligent, reckless and careless in “failing to provide Caputo with a safe place to work, safe conditions in which to work, safe tools and equipment, and competent crew members.”
Attorneys for Caputo filed the suit under the Jones Act — a federal statute that “protects seamen who are injured in the line of duty in American waters.”
Caputo’s attorney has reportedly represented several NYPD Harbor Unit cops who sued the city. Their federal complaints contained the same boilerplate language of the Jones Act, according to the NY Daily News.
