HEWLETT, N.Y. - A woman claims she was molested by a Nassau
County police officer in the back seat of a squad car as another officer drove.
The woman says the officer who sexually abused her is still
on the job. Now she's fighting back with a lawsuit.
She was arrested in Island Park and was handcuffed at the
time of the alleged assault.
"I think a lot of women suffer this kind of abuse in
silence and I'm not one of them," said the alleged victim, Jenny Hannigan.
She says she's fighting back, not only against police
officer Gary Zima but against his superiors.
"I never thought something like would happen when I was
in the custody of the police whom I have always trusted," she said.
It was back in 2011 in Island Park. Police pulled over
Hannigan for suspicion of DWI. She says officer Zima sat next to her in the
back of the patrol car.
She says while she was handcuffed Zima sexually abused her.
Hannigan is also suing police officer Rachel Miller, who was driving the car.
"I was visibily trying to make eye contact with her and
felt like she was purposefully not paying attention to what was going on in the
back seat," Hannigan said.
Hanningan immediately filed a report with Nassau County
Police Department's Internal Affairs. They found the allegation, "undetermined."
However they acknowledged that Zima accessed Hannigan's
record, got her cell phone number and texted her days after the incident. He
asked her how she was doing. She didn't respond.
"Officer Zima had the opportunity to rectify this
mistake and to come forward and apologize and we wouldn't be here,"
Hannigan said.
The Nassau County police department wouldn't respond to
this, saying they don't comment on ongoing litigation.
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