At approximately 6:00 p.m. on March 4, 1993, plaintiff Daniel Adami, a DOT employee, was supervising other DOT employees preparing to tow an illegally parked vehicle from the streets of mid-town Manhattan, when he was approached by DEA Agent Robert Stia, who informed him that the vehicle was being employed in a Government surveillance operation then underway. Adami Dep. at 136, 149. Adami radioed his supervisor, Captain Pedro Rodriguez, who instructed Adami to proceed with the tow, stating it was department policy to finish a tow once a vehicle was already hooked and raised.
Id. at 154–59. Adami relayed this information to Stia but added that he would attempt to obtain authorization from the New York City Police Department (“NYCPD”) to desist from the tow.
Id. at 167. Stia responded that “someone is going to get arrested” if the vehicle was not released.
Id. at 163. Accordingly, Adami entered the cab of his tow truck, with the engine still running, to radio the NYCPD for permission to stop the tow.
Id. at 166–71. But even as Adami waited for a response, Stia and several other DEA Agents, including Donald Bailey, David McNamara, and Kevin Mancini, opened the cab door, pulled Adami's arm behind his back and head, forced him outside, and arrested him (charging him with obstruction of justice in violation of
18 U.S.C. § 111).
Id. at 173, 177–86. Adami was then placed in a DEA van, which drove off—with two DOT tow vehicles in hot pursuit.