We reported yesterday how NYPD officer Michael Daragjati is under fire for the allegedly false April arrest of a Black man, and now, another man has come forward to say that a false arrest by Daragjati changed the course of his life forever.
In 2005, Jared Williams was a promising center fielder for Wagner College’s baseball team. According to Williams, his future was bright and he dreamed of making it to the major leagues — until he was falsely arrested by Daragjati during a night out in Staten Island.
“I feel he [Daragjati] racially profiled me," Williams told the New York Daily News.
There was a fight, he said, and "I feel we were the first Black people he saw and we got pulled over."
Williams was arrested that night and although the criminal charge was eventually thrown out and he received a $12,500 settlement from the city, the incident scarred his good standing with his school. As a result of the arrest, Williams was kicked off the baseball team just as he was beginning to be noticed by talent scouts from several major league teams. Finally, because he did not play for the school’s team during his senior year, Williams was disqualified from the baseball draft — ending his chances of following his dreams to the majors.
"I'm a Christian, so I'm forgiving, but I believe he [Daragjati] should be punished for his actions," Williams, who now teaches fourth- and fifth-grade special education students in a Washington elementary school, said. "It breaks my heart that someone who took an oath to protect and serve is doing this."
Daragjati was recently charged with writing a false police report claiming that an African-American man resisted arrest by shoving and kicking him and for making racist statements following the arrest. While under investigation, wiretaps recorded Daragjati saying after the arrest, “Another n----- fried, no big deal."

(Photo: Jared Williams)