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Leroy Truth Investigations-CITY UNREST! POLICE and WORKERS DEMAND MAYOR INVESTIGATION!!
Jeff Goldman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
UNION CITY — A federal agent who filed a lawsuit alleging he was cursed at by Union City mayor Brian Stack and then falsely arrested has settled his case against the city for $100,000.
The news was first reported by NJ Civil Settlements, which provides a partial list of settlements paid by New Jersey government agencies and their insurers to those who have sued them. The suit was settled in December.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Ricky Patel filed the lawsuit after he was taken into custody by Union City police a month after an FBI raid of Union City Hall in November 2012, as part of an investigation into the city's community development agency.
In settling the suit, neither Stack, who is also a state senator, nor Union City admitted any wrongdoing. Stack, 50, is also the city's director of public safety.
The lawsuit alleged that Stack, fearing that he also was the target of a federal probe, started having people watch Patel, a resident of Union City.
Stack's girlfriend's car and other vehicles were outside Patel's home on New York Avenue for several days, according to the lawsuit. On Dec. 1, 2012, Patel approached one of the vehicles and asked Stack's girlfriend if she was from the area, the lawsuit said.
Stack soon arrived and launched into an expletive-laced interrogation, according to the lawsuit.
"Let me see some I.D. Do you know who the (expletive) I am?" he allegedly shouted at Patel, the lawsuit said. At the time, according to the complaint, Patel didn't know Stack. "I'm the (expletive) mayor!"
Patel then identified himself as a federal agent, according to the lawsuit.
"I knew you were a fed! … You have no right to question my girlfriend!" he allegedly said, according to the complaint. "This is my city!"
According to the lawsuit, Stack demanded that Patel be arrested and his car impounded. He also allegedly grabbed Patel's arm and poked him in the face, the lawsuit said.
Union City police officers surrounded Patel and said he needed to go to the police station, according to the lawsuit. They had handcuffs at the ready if Patel didn't comply, the lawsuit said.
At headquarters, Capt. Nichelle Luster, also listed as a defendant in the suit, told Patel that police were trying to determine whether he was conducting an "unsanctioned investigation" against Stack, and if he had simply rented the Union City apartment to get close to the mayor, according to the lawsuit.
Patel refused to allow a search of his apartment, but just a few days later, he received a state notice that his apartment would be inspected, according to the lawsuit.
Stack didn't immediately reply to a request from NJ Advance Media for comment. In 2014, Stack called the lawsuit a "publicity stunt."
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