NYPD officer sues city after he fell off scooter in Central Park

An NYPD officer who apparently thinks the fields in Central Park should be perfectly flat is suing the city because he crashed his scooter after rolling over a rut while patrolling the green space last year. “Police Officer Carmelo Fargas was on routine patrol inside of Central Park on a two-wheeled Piaggio scooter, when he observed a group of kids running inside of the park after hours,” according to a line-of-duty injury report of the Sept. 4, 2016 accident. “PO Fargas went to assess the situation and, while doing so, he hit a ditch in the path, causing him to unexpectedly loose [sic] control of the scooter,” the report says. “In order to prevent himself from falling, PO Fargas extended his left leg which caused severe pain to his left knee, causing both PO Fargas and the scooter to fall to the ground,” the report reads. The suit, filed Thursday, claims the city had a duty to keep the turf level. Fargas blames Parks Department officials for “permitting the grassy field to remain un-level, gapped, depressed and uneven.” He says they “negligently and carelessly maintained the afore-described premises.” Fargas, 32, was off-roading through wet grass on the scooter near Central Park West and West 85th Street when he spotted the troublemakers at around 2:20 a.m., according to his Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit. The rut was apparently caused by heavy water runoff, according to court papers. He was seriously injured in the accident, which left him with a ruptured left knee requiring surgery. A resulting infection has the nine-year veteran officer laid up in his Queens home on medical leave. He is suing for unspecified monetary damages including lost overtime. He declined to comment, as did the NYPD. A police source said that Fargas did not violate departmental guidelines by taking the scooter off-road — but noted that officers are warned not to take the vehicles out in the rain or snow. A city Law Department spokesman said the complaint will be reviewed. Additional reporting by ­Reuven Fenton and Shawn Cohen
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