A police officer has been caught allegedly ogling a young woman following a traffic stop in New York, with his behaviour captured on his own bodycam.
Police Officer John Mascetti, 35, reportedly leered at Yael Glantz, 26, at Manhattan’s 7th Precinct stationhouse after an early morning traffic stop close to the Empire State Building on August 8.
The married father of four has been accused of checking out Glantz’s ‘rear end’ and referring to her as ‘total stripper’. Glantz’s lawyer has also alleged Mascetti lied about Glantz failing a breath test.
Mascetti stopped Glantz while she was driving a black Mercedes-Benz 350 SUV at the corner of East 34th Street and Fifth Avenue.
Glantz was charged with driving while intoxicated and driving with impaired ability. However, according to court documents obtained by the New York Post, defence lawyer Mark Bederow has claimed the footage shows Mascetti lied about the breath test and exhibited ‘sophomoric behavior’.
According to court papers, Bederow wrote:
At 33:11 of his body camera video, Mascetti makes faces and shakes his head at Ms. Glantz, who remained oblivious to his sophomoric behavior.
[…] A few seconds later (while he is at the copying machine), Mascetti appears to look at Ms. Glantz’s rear end, raise his eyebrows and laugh.
[…] After the third attempt, Mascetti warned Ms. Glantz that this was her ‘last chance’ and that if she didn’t take the test properly, he would arrest her.
After Ms. Glantz’ fourth unsuccessful attempt, Mascetti immediately arrested her.
Bodycam footage reveals Mascetti’s ‘growing frustration’ with Glantz as she ‘unsuccessfully’ tried to take a breath test. Bederow has alleged Mascetti falsely recorded Glantz ‘blew a .15’ in a bid to ‘exaggerate the state of the evidence against her’.
Following the arrest, Mascetti allegedly texted another officer about Glantz, a cop identified in court documents as ‘HC’.
Bederow wrote:
Apparently unaware that his partner’s body camera captured their messages, Mascetti referred to Ms. Glantz as a ‘bitch’ and claimed that she ‘jerked the machine off. I got pissed and cuffed her. I hate her’.
Within this same text exchange, Mascetti reportedly described Glantz as being a ‘total stripper’ and a ‘blonde Russian’, prompting HC to ask for a picture of her. According to Bederow, Glantz works as a yoga instructor, not a stripper, and is ‘not even Russian’.
Glantz is apparently now concerned about the possibility of Mascetti having taken ‘unauthorised photos’ of her while she was in custody, in accordance with HC’s request.
Bederow wrote:
We demand any and all copies of any such photos, documentation of where they came from and to whom they were disseminated, and proof that they have been deleted from Mascetti’s, ‘HC’s,’ or anyone else’s devices.
Writing in the criminal complaint made against Glantz, Mascetti stated:
I advised the defendant of her rights regarding the taking of a test to determine how much alcohol was in her blood and the defendant refused to take the test.
The New York Police Department is reportedly aware of the allegations made against Mascetti and is now conducting an investigation into the incident.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.