Cop Lied About Suspect Trying To Run Him Over In Sunset Park: DA

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — An NYPD officer is facing perjury charges after he lied about a suspect trying to hit him with his car when he was trying to arrest the man on a Sunset Park block, prosecutors announced.

Officer Michael Bergman, who worked with the Grand Larceny Division, told a grand jury that a burglary suspect he and his partner saw parking on 65th Street between Second and Third avenues nearly rammed into his partner and then tried to run Bergman over before driving away.

But when investigators looked at the surveillance video, the suspect and his car were nowhere near hitting the two officers, prosecutors said.

“We allege that this police officer’s actions led to an individual being falsely accused of crimes that he did not commit," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "All of us who work in law enforcement rely on the truthfulness and integrity of our police officers – it is integral to our commitment to safety and equal justice. We will now seek to hold this officer accountable.”

Bergman, who has been on the force for six years, was arraigned Wednesday and released without bail. He will return to court in August.

Prosecutors said the incident Bergman lied about happened on Feb. 1, when he and his partner were on patrol in the 72nd Precinct. Bergman said he recognized a man who was wanted on burglary charges parallel parking on the side of the road, and drove up in an unmarked car hoping to arrest the man for driving without a valid license.

The 34-year-old officer later said that when he and his partner got out of their car, the suspect backed up his car and almost hit the partner who was standing behind the car. The suspect, Bergman claimed, then drove the car forward and forced him to dive out of the way as the suspect drove off.

Bergman said he had scrapes on his elbow from diving to the ground.

His testimony was used against the suspect, who was later charged with attempted assault, reckless endangerment and two unrelated burglary charges.

Prosecutors watched the surveillance video at the end of May, though, and saw that the unmarked police car pulled alongside the suspect's car after he had already finished parallel parking against the curb. The suspect did drive off when the officers got out of their car, prosecutors said, but it didn't come close to striking the officers. Bergman was never in front of the suspect's car and did not have to move out of the way or dive to the ground as he had claimed, they said.

The district attorney's office announced Bergman's indictment along with NYPD Commissioner James P. O'Neill.

“The dedicated police officers of the NYPD make a solemn pledge to abide by the greatest standards of conduct, and uphold the law," O'Neill said. "If an officer fails to meet those standards, they must be held to account.”