Helping a Friend Ends Up Being Mistaken For Thief and Killed By Police

On June 2, 2013, Ricardo Diaz Zeferino and Eutiquio Acevedo Mendez were helping a friend look for his stolen bike.

Police responded to a call about a bicycle stolen from outside a CVS drugstore on Western Avenue. The police dispatcher mistakenly told the officers that the crime was a robbery, which generally involves a theft using weapons or force. One of the suspects was described as wearing a yellow shirt.

The officers headed to the area in search of two suspects. Sergeant Christopher Cuff saw two men riding bicycles. Mistaking them for the thieves, Sergeant Cuff ordered the men to stop and put their hands up.

Diaz-Zeferino, whose brother owned the stolen bicycle, ran up to his friends as they stood before the police car.   They tried to tell the police that the bike stolen belonged to his brother.