Chicago Police Chief Garry McCarthy: Trouble telling the truth

Garry McCarthy has a problem telling the truth.  It seems almost pathological with this guy.

In fact, his entire family seems short-suited in the personal integrity department.

Yesterday, in an effort to pour some gasoline on some inflammatory rhetoric, McCarthy put on a dog and pony show for the media at one of the district headquarters.  He issues a press release saying “the Chicago Police Department” was going to display 25 of the 300 menacing guns that were confiscated during the first two weeks of 2013 during a press conference and he himself would be there to answer questions and make a statement.

Oh, those evil guns.  Those scary guns.

The reporters dutifully showed up and noticed the evidence tags were from 2012.

Here’s the story where the Chicago Tribune downplays McCarthy’s trouble telling the truth:

Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy held a news conference Monday where his department “put on display several of the firearms seized … during the first two weeks of 2013,” according to a police news release.

But that wasn’t exactly the case.

A police spokeswoman said McCarthy had hoped to display 25 weapons from among the more than 300 seized since Jan. 1 — but in fact the ones shown were from last year. Some dated from last summer, according to inventory tags on the weapons.

Reporters attending the news conference at the Gresham Police District station, 7808 S Halsted St., noticed the inventory tags, and McCarthy was asked about them. He said the guns weren’t the actual ones seized in 2013, but were “representative” of them.

“Well, you know what the point is? These are representative of what we’re recovering today,” McCarthy said. “The problem is that many of the guns we’re recovering today are arrest evidence, and we can’t display them. So what we’ll do is substitute one for the other. OK?”

Why do we say Garry McCarthy has trouble telling the truth?

Well, early yesterday we published a story detailing some of his shenanigans back in the Northeast before be was brought to Chicago.  In one instance, of many scandals this guy got himself into thanks to his lack of integrity, his drinking and his womanizing included an incident where he and his wife got themselves arrested while he furiously tried to intimidate a couple of New Jersey cops who had ticketed his daughter for parking in a handicapped spot.  We’ll let you contrast the report of what happened with the McCarthys’ testimony in court when the case went to trial.

First up, what happened:

NYPD Confidential

Heavily armed in war of words

July 22, 2005

Here is the police report of Det. Thomas Rossi of the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police after he and his partner, Officer Roman Galloza, arrested NYPD Deputy Commissioner Garry McCarthy.

“On 02/18/05 at approximately 2350 hours, I was on plainclothes detail with PO Galloza. We were located in the northbound Sunoco station enforcing parking violations. While PO Galloza was writing that summons, I observed a black in color Ford Explorer back in from the exit of the Sunoco station and park his vehicle in violation of park statute 408 … (impeding the flow of vehicle/pedestrian traffic) next to the passenger side of J23. A white male later identified as Garry McCarthy exited that vehicle and approached the passenger side. …

“McCarthy was dressed in business-like attire and he had a silver in color semiautomatic handgun in his waistband visible to the public; he had no badge/shield displayed or any form of identification displayed as well. McCarthy walked up to the passenger side window and was right in the face of PO Galloza, yelling and obstructing our traffic stop. McCarthy identified himself as the deputy commissioner of the New York City Police Department but did not produce a badge/shield or identification.

“McCarthy was speaking in a loud tone and as he was speaking a white female later identified as Regina McCarthy was yelling obscenities at us from the passenger seat of the black Ford. McCarthy asked myself and PO Galloza which one of us issued his daughter a parking summons. I explained that I was the officer who issued the summons and McCarthy said loudly you knew who the — I was before you issued the summons and that is –. I tried to reasonably speak with McCarthy in a low tone and McCarthy kept escalating the situation with hand gestures and profane language. At this time a small crowd gathered around the area and began to watch as McCarthy continued yelling at us. McCarthy said numerous times very loudly to myself and PO Galloza to go — ourselves,” and he also invited the officers to perform a sexual act on him as well, according to the report.

When the cops asked McCarthy to leave, he continued on with a stream of vulgar expressions, one invoking his own mother, Rossi’s report said. When Rossi asked McCarthy to leave before he charged him with weapons possession, McCarthy again swore at the officer, invoking two sexual acts.

“At that time PO Galloza forced the door to J23 open by kicking it open. PO Galloza had to do this because McCarthy was creating a physical interference by having his body against the door of the vehicle. Once PO Galloza was out of the vehicle, I observed him place McCarthy in an arm bar. I immediately exited the vehicle and observed McCarthy resisting arrest.

“McCarthy was resisting by lunging from side to side and I grabbed the handgun out of his waistband for officer safety and threw it in the front seat of J23. PO Galloza brought him to the rear of J23. During the course of the struggle, McCarthy’s wife got into the driver’s side seat from the passenger side seat and lunged out of the vehicle. She stated ‘That is my husband’s — gun.’

“She reached for the handgun and I had to jump on her back and take the gun out of her hand. I placed her into handcuffs and placed her against my police vehicle. I was able to call for back up when I was inside of the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, officers Durham and Peralta arrived on scene and assisted us in securing both McCarthy and his wife in the back seat of their patrol car. Both McCarthy and his wife were detained for investigation purposes and transported to headquarters.

“Both parties were issued PV summonses and released from headquarters. This matter is still under investigation and other charges may be pending.”

McCarthy, his wife and daughter Kyla, who was summonsed for parking in a handicapped zone, have pleaded not guilty. No trial date has been set.

Neither McCarthy nor Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Paul Browne – who said at the time that McCarthy’s actions did not warrant an internal investigation – returned calls yesterday.

There’s more, but that’s the gist of it.

Oh, you want more.  Okay,

All in the deputy’s family (First paragraph sums it up:  “Garry McCarthy, the deputy commissioner for operations, has managed to turn a parking ticket for his daughter into an embarrassment for himself, his family and the NYPD.”).

Keeping quiet about summons (details Police One Plaza tight-lipped about McCarthy’s intoxicated while armed abuse of authority).

An NYPD official goes to trial (immediately before trial)

Call ’em Ray’s Untouchables   (how McCarthy has faced little in the way of sanction for his criminal behavior at the incident in New Jersey…  also, it wasn’t really mentioned, but he was committing a felony having a gun (and more charges for the ammunition it contained) by leaving New York state with it, by the way)).

A most expensive ticket(A wrap up of how much it cost McCarthy to clean up the mess his admitted “couple of glasses of wine” (heard that one before?  ‘I’ve had a couple’) and his narcissistic mouth got him into.  Quote:  “In what may be the most expensive parking ticket since the automobile was invented, Deputy Commissioner Gary McCarthy spent two days in a New Jersey traffic court last week, in an attempt to explain away the circumstances that led to his being disarmed, handcuffed, and arrested.  Before this case is over, McCarthy, the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Operations, may plunk down more than $7,500 in legal fees and court costs.).

Contrast that with the make-believe fiction the McCarthy’s say happened.

The Fighting McCarthys Speak Out

February 27, 2006

NYPD Confidential

by Leonard Levitt

It turns out that Deputy Commissioner Garry McCarthy didn’t return to the gas station on the Palisades Parkway to protest a ticket issued his teenage daughter Kyla for parking in a handicapped zone, as the Palisades police maintain he did.

Rather, McCarthy – who was charged last February with blocking the exit ramp of the gas station with his NYPD vehicle – says he suspected that the two Palisades officers who ticketed Kyla were “imposters” in plainclothes who he thought might be trying to rob Kyla – or worse.

In addition, McCarthy’s wife Regina – who was charged with “unreasonable noise” – says she never screamed or cursed at the Palisades cops, as they claimed she had.

And that the reason she retrieved her husband’s gun from their car after the Palisades cops had disarmed him was that she feared that three men standing nearby might grab it because the Palisades cops had not properly secured it.

That at least is the story the the Fighting McCarthys told last week in a New Jersey traffic court. They testified during the trial’s fourth session of testimony in what may well be the most expensive parking ticket issued since the invention of the automobile.

McCarthy acknowledged he had had two glasses of wine at dinner hours before, but said he was not drunk. He also acknowledged that it was Regina who had backed the NYPD’s black Ford Explorer into the gas station against oncoming traffic.

But he placed the onus for the confrontation on the ticketing officer, Palisades Detective Thomas Rossi who, McCarthy testified, cursed him, was “out of control,” and at one point threatened to arrest him for gun possession.

“Knock yourself out,” McCarthy said he answered.

McCarthy acknowledged that he had cursed in retaliation, that he had disregarded Regina’s advice to leave the scene when they realized that Rossi was enraged. He added that that one point Rossi threatened to put McCarthy “through the system,” while saying of his career, “Twenty-four years down the drain. How does it feel?”

In the midst of his hour-long testimony, McCarthy appeared to be near tears when he described how, after Regina had retrieved his gun, Rossi flung her to the ground head-first. Rossi, it should be recalled, has had two dozen civilian complaints filed against him in his three years on the job – none of which have been substantiated.

McCarthy denied a report in this column that he had been reprimanded at the department’s highest levels after he had gotten into an altercation with a sergeant at a cop bar in the Bronx the night he was appointed deputy commissioner. He said the incident never happened. “Absolutely not,” he said.

Prosecutor Douglas Doyle did not probe a previous alcohol-related incident early in his career – also reported in this column – in which McCarthy was disciplined.

Finally, this column apologizes for having previously misspelled his name with only one “r.” Before testifying, McCarthy gave the spelling of his name as “Garry with two r’s.”

So, make up your own mind.

In our mind, the whole family seems to have a problem telling the truth.

But keep in mind, our sources have been popping up left and right.

Apparently Mrs. Regina McCarthy (doesn’t rhyme with Paulina or that other word) has moved back to New York, sick of her husband’s womanizing since he arrived in Chicago.  They also allege Mr. McCarthy is banging some administrative assistant in the office on a regular basis and well as potentially others females in the department.

McCarthy is known for his drinking and is positively loathed by the rank and file cops of CPD.

In short, it’ll be a good day when he goes.