7.27.2011

Beware the ex-boyfriend who watches too many cop shows

I come across a lot of news stories that have me shaking my head, saying "What is wrong with people?" This one's got to be in the hall of fame... Here's a crazy-ass New York Times story on a woman who spent seven months in jail after a vengeful ex-boyfriend framed her for robbery: A Revenge Plot So Intricate, the Prosecutors Were Pawns.

After getting her cop show-obsessed ex-boyfriend Jerry Ramrattan arrested for rape, restaurateur Seemona Sumasar suddenly found herself arrested and accused of carrying out a series of armed robberies, in what prosecutors now call one of the most elaborate framing plots they'd ever seen:

One night, Ms. Sumasar was pulled over by the police. Before she could speak, detectives slapped handcuffs on her. "You know you did it," she said one later shouted at her. "Just admit it."

Ms. Sumasar, a former Morgan Stanley analyst who was running a restaurant, said she had no idea what that meant. Yet suddenly, she was being treated like a brazen criminal. She was charged with carrying out a series of armed robberies, based on what the police said was a wealth of evidence, including credible witness statements and proof that her car was the getaway vehicle.

In her first extensive interview about her ordeal, she recalled sitting in jail, consumed by one thought: "Jerry is behind this."

But when she insisted to the authorities that he had set her up, they belittled her claims.

Now, though, they concede that Ms. Sumasar was right — an astonishing turn of events that has transformed her case into one of the most bizarre in the city’s recent history.

Seriously, if you read the rest of the article, it's like something out of a Law and Order plot. Ladies, beware the weird boyfriend who watches too many police procedurals. The ordeal effectively ruined Ms. Sumasar's life.

Ramrattan, who maintains that he's innocent, is set to go on trial in October on charges of rape and conspiracy, while Sumasar is now planning lawsuits against the Police Departments in New York City and in Nassau County.

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