It was initially reported in December that a woman busted for drug possession was suing the city because an unidentified narcotics detective had photographed her with his cell phone during repeated strip searches. Now 17 other women have come forward and accused the cop of strip-searching them. (NYPD policy prohibits officers from conducting strip searches on prisoners of the opposite sex.) The accused officer has also been identified: His name is Charles Derosalia, a Long Island resident who works with the Brooklyn South narcotics team. The Daily News has a great photo of him outside his house.
None of the women have accused Derosalia of touching them inappropriately, just leering at them while they took off their clothes. The allegations first surfaced in 2007 after Claudia Bova, 23, was arrested in a Coney Island drug sweep and taken to a building in downtown Brooklyn for booking. Bova claims he led her to the bathroom and ordered her to lift up her shirt, "shake out her bra" and pull down her pants, and says she was forced to take her clothes off in the bathroom two more times: once so he could take photos with his cell phone, and again when he said the first photos didn't come out right. It's also been reported that Internal Affairs has surveillance camera footage of Derosalia escorting her into the bathroom.
Another woman, Quantalis Legrand, claims Derosalia "watched her change out of pajamas into street clothes, exposing her breasts and panties to him in the bedroom of her Avenue X apartment," the News reports. According to her complaint, Derosalia also "ordered her to lift her shirt and pull down her pants at the 61st Precinct stationhouse so he could check for contraband." Derosalia's lawyer dismisses the women as "admitted drug addicts" and "opportunists," and declares his client will take the stand in his own defense. Outside his home yesterday, Derosalia said, "Of course I'm denying it. Unfortunately, people can sue you all the time."
