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NYPD Cop Charged With Making False Arrest Pleads Guilty

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A New York City police officer charged with making a racist arrest has pleaded guilty in federal court.

WCBS 880's Irene Cornell On The Case

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Officer Michael Daragjati appeared Tuesday in Brooklyn where he pleaded guilty to making a false arrest.

Authorities accused Daragjati, who's white, of falsely arresting the black man in April on Staten Island. They say the officer was angry because the man had complained about being stopped and frisked.

WEB EXTRA: Read The Full Complaint (PDF)

According to the complaint, the 6-foot-2 Daragjati was on patrol in the Stapleton section of Staten Island with a plainclothes anti-crime unit on April 15 when he stopped the unidentified, 31-year-old black man. It says the officer grabbed the 5-foot-6 man and frisked him, but let him go after not finding any weapons or contraband.

The man objected, demanding the officer's name and badge number and shouted insults as he walked away, authorities said. Hearing the insults, the officer and his partner chased after him and arrested him.

Daragjati later lied in text messages to his sergeant and in a sworn statement by claiming the man had pushed him and fought back while he was being handcuffed, the complaint said. After two nights in custody, the man finally appeared in court, agreed to plead guilty to disorderly conduct and was released.

The officer is accused of later using the "N-word'' to describe the man in a conversation caught on a wire.

(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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