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DARIEN, Conn. The Darien executive charged with a hate crime after allegedly assaulting a cab driver in December has filed a motion to dismiss the charges. His attorney has also requested that the Darien police issue a warrant for the arrest of the cab driver.
William Bryan Jennings, 47, pleaded not guilty March 9 to charges of second-degree assault, third-degree theft of services and intimidation by bias or bigotry. He is accused of stabbing the driver in the hand during an argument over the fare for a ride from Manhattan to Darien.
Jennings attorney, Eugene Riccio, filed the motion to dismiss in court Wednesday. In his motion, Riccio said, The complaining witness, Mohamed Anmar, made materially different statements to the Darien Police Department on the night of the incident and in the days after the incident.
Detective Chet Perkowski of the Darien Police chose to selectively rely upon some of Mr. Anmars statements, including, most egregiously, for the charge of intimidation by bigotry or bias in the second degree, and omitted the materially inconsistent statements made by Mr. Anmar, Riccio said.
He said Perkowski knowingly and intentionally included false statements, such as the extent of the Defendants alleged alcohol consumption that day and his refusal to submit to a polygraph examination.
Riccio accuses the driver Anmar of unlawfully restraining Jennings in his cab during the dispute over the fare and of changing his story about where incidents took place. He also said Anmar made no reference to hateful speech by Jennings when initially filing his report.
Riccio sent a letter to the Darien police, requesting that Anmar be charged with first-degree unlawful restraint and first-degree reckless endangerment. He said Anmar drove Jennings away from his home against his will, driving recklessly with the door of the cab open.
Jennings is set to appear in court again April 12.
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