i:i.

The parents of David Cotto, who was killed by police In Brooklyn last year, protest brutality.

Freddy's Dead!Latinos Call for an End to Brutality After the Pereira Killing

ing the strain of the day. "If youhave children, let me say this: Inever thought it could be mine. To-morrow it could be yours."

By Ed Morales,~~ chilly March wind came off

_:~~b:~',East River and wbipped- . " Igh tberally at Police Plaza,

told their stories: David Cot-fatber described bow in1 1990, bis son had quar-willi a neighbor. Shortly af-,lice arrived at 5 a.m., hisad threatened to kill himself,two knives to his throat.said the cops sprayed theman with mace and shot

·11 times. The mayor and po-.'commissioner promised Cot-Cfamily an investigation; none

-lijppened.~; Mark Rodriguez. a 27-year-old'accountant from Flushing, re-H:aned being beaten by two police-Jmen in front of his wife and child.

I:~w, his wife has left him for fear, 1ihat the police would come back!I\;; kill him. "My life has practical-!Iy been destroyed," he said, carry-jng a placard with photographs of,his beaten face and torso. "Some-times I wish he would have killedme."The list went on: Rafael Jime-

nez, Luis Liranzo, Jose Lebron,Andrew Gonzalez, all men allegedto have died at the hands of thepolice.The rally, organized by the Na-

tional Congress of Puerto RicanRights, was prompted by the Feb-ruary 5 death of Federico .Pereira,tlIe 21-year-old Latino who diedwhile being arrested in ForestHills.· The day of the rally, fivepolice were indicted in Pereira'sdeath, cbarged with manslaughter,assault, and second-degreemurder.Importantly, Latino New York-

ers broke their silence about p0-lice brutality. Emerging from ano-nymity like the families of theArgentine desaparecidos, victimsand supporters sbowered the presswith a litany of police abuse,showing just bow far anger, mis-trust, and downright terror haveb'ecome embedded in tbe,lIOmmunity .t Finally, Laura Pereira·Nieves,IiFederico's mother, spoke. ~I never:1bougbt rd be standing up bere,"ulid Pereira-N'Jeves, her face show-

Freddy Pereira's life began intragedy. His father died in a caraccident before he was born, inFort Hood, Texas, after his sec·ond tour of duty in Vietnam. Nev-er having had the chance to meethis father would baunt Freddy un·til his fatal encounter with ananticrime unit at the 62nd Driveplayground.His mother had managed to

move them into a safe, middle·class apartment building in ForestHills near 108th Street, far awayfrom her rough upbringing inBrooklyn's Marcy projects.Freddy and his mother were pio-neers of Forest Hills's integration,which began in the area aroundthe infamous housing project, theone which touched off much pro-test in the mid- '60s, almost cost-ing then.mayor John Lindsay hisjob.Freddy grew up with friends

from all ethnic backgrounds,bright, curious, bilingual, andwith a thing for the sciences.When his mother met his step-father, the burly. husky· voicedsalsa singer Tito Nieves, Freddy,then II years old, was precociousenough to say that she was "fall·ing in love with the guy on thecover of the records."As he entered adolescence,

Freddy, compared with his fellowPuerto Ricans across the city,lived a relatively privileged life,riding dirt bikes, fooling with the

I Atari 400 computer his parentsbought him, and finding the loveof his life, Nicky Olivo. Olivo,peeking out from her long blackcurls and waving her fingers, isthe quintessential Nuyorican girlnext door.From across a table at a burger

joint on 108th Street, she mused."We met in this very diner. OnceI started going out with Freddy. Irealized that I was Latin and thatmaybe I shouldn't be hanging outas much with all white kids."Their relationship flourished,

but Freddy began to show troublesigns. Steve Polano, a teacher ofhis at Halsey Junior High School.felt that although Freddy "had acertain leadership quality, he wasnot sure about what he wantedout of life and how to go aboutachieving that." Freddy began tohang out with an unsavory crowdon 108th Street. "There is a prob-lem with drug dealing and fenceson 108th Street," said Polano."Young people are able to turnover radios and things like thatfor quick cash."As Olivo struggled to graduate

from Forest Hills High, Freddydropped out, content to get hisGED. Then Nicky got pregnant.Freddy went to learn welding atthe Technical Careers Institute inWest Haven. Nicky went to livewith him there until he finishedthe course after four months,when tbey moved back to theirrespective parents' apartments.After Federico Jr. was born,

Nicky decided to go to college.But Freddy didn't seem to be ableto adjust. "I think the shock set in

Urban Guerrilla Lucette Lagnado

Friends in

High PlacesThe $200,000 Man and

His $128,000 Hires'

when Rico was born," Nicky reocalled, "that, look, this is yourson, and you're his father, andnow is the time to stop everythingand do the right thing."As he got older, Freddy became

increasingly haunted by the facttbat he had never known llis fa-ther. "He would tell me that if hehad one wish it would be just tospeak to his dad," sighed Nicky,her voice trembling, "and to seewhat kind of person he was."By mid·1989, Freddy was

floundering. He moved with hisparents to Edison, New Jersey.where he slipped back and forthbetween the world of work, doingconstruction or being a cook atfast·food joints, and the world ofdrugs and stolen car radios of108th Street. Finally, in the springof 1990, after a car·theft arrestearned him a short stay at Riker'sIsland, Nicky cut him off. "Healways wanted to go back toNicky," said Sean Creden, one ofFreddy's best friends, "but he reoalized that she didn't want himback."A few weeks before his death,

he spray.painted a wall at Alexan-der's near Queens Boulevard:"Freddy Loves Nicky."

Just what Freddy was doing onthe night of his death is still amystery. Creden thinks he mayhave simply gone to sleep in astolen car after an aimless cokebinge. Freddy may not have gonehome because his mother was inthe hospital having an operation."While' he was doing it

[drugs]." Creden said, "he wasvery quiet and very to himself. ~efelt bad about what he was doing.He almost felt like he had to do it

Mark RocIriluez with photos of wounds he says cops caused •.

.1>t

and he couldn't stop. He'd stayawake for a couple of days, andthen go back home and sleep."So Freddy probably binged out,

fell asleep in a car be may havestolen or just broken into to getsome sleep, and wound upsmashed practically beyond recog-nition. "His eye was out like hehad been in the ring with Tyson,"said Tito Nieves, after identifyingthe body. "Busted completely."The factors that fueled Freddy's

descent into drug use and pellycrime were not COt1'rle~: adoles-cent confusion, the loss of his fa- Ither, pressure from being an ado-lescent parent. Since he wasinstilled with a strong Latinoidentity, his bonding with a "badcrowd" may have been the resultof the lack of Latino peers in hisown neighborhood. But his mis-steps into drug dependency andnonviolent crime mouldn't haveended up in a brutal death.·'Betty Ford bad a problem with

drugs, but she's okay." lamentedFreddy's mother. "White kidswere in gangs and joyrided in the'50s and '60s and that was roman-tic. When Puerto Rican kids do it,they're animals."Referring to news reports that

she had Freddy arrested for steal-ing her air conditioner, she said,"I thought it would be a way tohelp him get rehabilitation."Police, who refused to comment

for this story, maintain that thefive officers now under indict-ment are not guilty of homicide.But an autopsy report called

Pereira's death a homicide andsaid he died of "traumatic as-phyxiation." Said Queens Countydistrict attorney John Santucci in

Continued on page 14

Dr. Emilio Carrillo and Victor De De La Cancela, a clinical psy-La Cancela were best friends. And cbologist and author of severalthey were ex·roommates and co- seminal papers on machismo ininvestors in a Boston real estate the Latino male, rose meteoricallyventure. When Carrillo became through the ranks of HHC. With·president of the city's Health and in two months, Carrillo had givenHospitals Corporation last year, his friend two promotions and aDe La Cancela's job was about to 538,000 raise. The post of seniorbe phased out. Carrillo was able vice-president in charge- of ·rom·to lend a helping hand. He hired munity.health bad never"eXIstedhis friend last April, and in June, in New'York 'Clty before Carrillocreated a new $128,000 job at his conjuftld'Uj)'U!e job and awardedcash-strapped agency and gave it, _!J,i$p)~ ..J!!Injl.~ highest salary.to Victor De La Cancela. .,., ,,.u,,,.~-e.,reponed two

-,.~~~7~~.:::::'~:-::::?:=~~OOO~jIWIifIQ.A\l'Jl~!O·~~

~VI

C~

VI_

VIZ

v

~~o:::WVl-'"~>~.VlVI~D:>-;..J~~9:;:)~C~VlD:~CZ~W°D:UUU~

ViZZQ.

<<~•

=>Z~C>-<VI'::2cr.