Ex-Franklin Square resident wins $500G award against Nassau police for wrongful arrest
Carl Semencic won a $500,000 federal jury verdict in March for false arrest and battery at the hands of the Nassau County Police Department in 2016. Credit: Carl Semencic
A former Franklin Square man’s irritation over what a federal jury deemed a wrongful arrest by Nassau County police led to a nearly decadelong legal saga that eventually netted him a $500,000 award, court records show.
Carl Semencic, 73, a retired luxury wine seller and historic gun collector, waited out a two-year criminal case going back to 2016 that was eventually dismissed, years of legal wrangling, the death of the presiding judge in his lawsuit, a change of attorney, and the destruction of his gun collection, before winning his suit against Nassau County police last month before a Brooklyn federal jury.
But Semencic, who has published several books about fighting dog breeds and holds a PhD in anthropology, said during a phone interview from his new home in Arizona that it was never about the money.
"My primary goal is to put these police in their place," he said.
The legal victory and payout started with an unwelcome knock at his Dogwood Avenue home on the evening of July 19, 2016, Semencic told Newsday.
He said that he had finished work for the night in his home office, had just taken his licensed Glock pistol out of his office safe, and was carrying it to his bedroom to lock in his bedside nightstand when he heard a "raucous pounding" at his front door.
Semencic was enrolled in the Town of Hempstead’s "Do Not Knock" program and had a sign on his front step of his home that said, "Do Not Knock. No Peddler," he said.
"We were all being bothered by solicitors who were ringing up our bell during the day and trying to sell us cable service and that kind of stuff," he said.
On that night, it was a volunteer firefighter with the Franklin Square & Munson Fire Department, asking for a donation for the firehouse.
The firefighter, who was in uniform, stood holding open the screen door with the "no knock" sticker on it and asked for a contribution, Semencic said.
"I pointed to the sign with my left hand, which had the Glock in it, which, by the way, did not have a round in the chamber. And I said, ‘Hey, do you see the sign? You know what it says? Can you read?’ And he backed away," Semencic said, recalling the interaction. He said that he tapped the sign with the barrel of the gun, but never pointed it at the firefighter.
Semencic said he closed the door, locked up his gun and went back inside to watch a PBS special with his wife when she noticed men were peering in their windows.
He went to the front door again to answer more loud knocking where he was met by the Nassau County police who, he said, grabbed him and barged into his house without permission or a warrant and twisted his arm behind his back, forcing him into the kitchen area.
After handcuffing him, the police put him in the back of a patrol car and searched his house, demanding to know where the gun was and ordering him to give them the combination to his gun safe, according to his federal civil rights complaint.
His firearms were all confiscated and police gave him a desk appearance ticket for second-degree menacing and criminal possession of a weapon — both misdemeanor charges, records show.
Semencic said that he bought the Glock for home protection because there had been a push-in robbery nearby. He said he also owned nearly two dozen other guns, historic rifles, exotic makes from Russia and single-shot muskets that he would shoot for fun at the local range. His pistol was licensed, but the long guns did not require permits.
He said that police ordered him to give them the combination to his gun safe and then ordered him to open it when they couldn’t, which he said he did.
"Did they read me my Miranda rights? No, nothing. Zero," he said. "I'm under arrest. They charged into my house, pushed me over my kitchen counter, said, ‘You're under arrest,’ and they shackled me with handcuffs."
According to court documents, the gun charge was found defective and the menacing charge was dismissed because the speedy trial clock ran out.
His lawsuit charged a litany of civil rights abuses, including false arrest, illegal search, assault and battery and excessive force.
U.S. District Judge Sandra Feuerstein found the county in contempt for not returning Semencic’s guns and then destroying them. Before she could rule on a request for a default judgment against the county for violating her order, she was struck and killed by a driver in Boca Raton, Florida.
U.S. District Judge Gary Brown, who replaced Feuerstein, found Semencic’s lawyer’s request for a $24 million judgment "a mockery" of the federal court procedures and the case continued for three more years.
The jury trial started on Feb. 25, with Nassau County being represented by Robert Costello, a high profile lawyer who once represented Rudy Giuliani, and ended March 4 with the verdict.
Nassau County spokesman Christopher Boyle did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Semencic said that he will give the money to his sons.
"I don’t need the money," he said. He just wanted to get an amount that would "upset the hell out of them."
A former Franklin Square man’s irritation over what a federal jury deemed a wrongful arrest by Nassau County police led to a nearly decadelong legal saga that eventually netted him a $500,000 award, court records show.
Carl Semencic, 73, a retired luxury wine seller and historic gun collector, waited out a two-year criminal case going back to 2016 that was eventually dismissed, years of legal wrangling, the death of the presiding judge in his lawsuit, a change of attorney, and the destruction of his gun collection, before winning his suit against Nassau County police last month before a Brooklyn federal jury.
But Semencic, who has published several books about fighting dog breeds and holds a PhD in anthropology, said during a phone interview from his new home in Arizona that it was never about the money.
"My primary goal is to put these police in their place," he said.
The legal victory and payout started with an unwelcome knock at his Dogwood Avenue home on the evening of July 19, 2016, Semencic told Newsday.
He said that he had finished work for the night in his home office, had just taken his licensed Glock pistol out of his office safe, and was carrying it to his bedroom to lock in his bedside nightstand when he heard a "raucous pounding" at his front door.
Semencic was enrolled in the Town of Hempstead’s "Do Not Knock" program and had a sign on his front step of his home that said, "Do Not Knock. No Peddler," he said.
"We were all being bothered by solicitors who were ringing up our bell during the day and trying to sell us cable service and that kind of stuff," he said.
On that night, it was a volunteer firefighter with the Franklin Square & Munson Fire Department, asking for a donation for the firehouse.
The firefighter, who was in uniform, stood holding open the screen door with the "no knock" sticker on it and asked for a contribution, Semencic said.
"I pointed to the sign with my left hand, which had the Glock in it, which, by the way, did not have a round in the chamber. And I said, ‘Hey, do you see the sign? You know what it says? Can you read?’ And he backed away," Semencic said, recalling the interaction. He said that he tapped the sign with the barrel of the gun, but never pointed it at the firefighter.
Semencic said he closed the door, locked up his gun and went back inside to watch a PBS special with his wife when she noticed men were peering in their windows.
He went to the front door again to answer more loud knocking where he was met by the Nassau County police who, he said, grabbed him and barged into his house without permission or a warrant and twisted his arm behind his back, forcing him into the kitchen area.
After handcuffing him, the police put him in the back of a patrol car and searched his house, demanding to know where the gun was and ordering him to give them the combination to his gun safe, according to his federal civil rights complaint.
His firearms were all confiscated and police gave him a desk appearance ticket for second-degree menacing and criminal possession of a weapon — both misdemeanor charges, records show.
Semencic said that he bought the Glock for home protection because there had been a push-in robbery nearby. He said he also owned nearly two dozen other guns, historic rifles, exotic makes from Russia and single-shot muskets that he would shoot for fun at the local range. His pistol was licensed, but the long guns did not require permits.
He said that police ordered him to give them the combination to his gun safe and then ordered him to open it when they couldn’t, which he said he did.
"Did they read me my Miranda rights? No, nothing. Zero," he said. "I'm under arrest. They charged into my house, pushed me over my kitchen counter, said, ‘You're under arrest,’ and they shackled me with handcuffs."
According to court documents, the gun charge was found defective and the menacing charge was dismissed because the speedy trial clock ran out.
His lawsuit charged a litany of civil rights abuses, including false arrest, illegal search, assault and battery and excessive force.
U.S. District Judge Sandra Feuerstein found the county in contempt for not returning Semencic’s guns and then destroying them. Before she could rule on a request for a default judgment against the county for violating her order, she was struck and killed by a driver in Boca Raton, Florida.
U.S. District Judge Gary Brown, who replaced Feuerstein, found Semencic’s lawyer’s request for a $24 million judgment "a mockery" of the federal court procedures and the case continued for three more years.
The jury trial started on Feb. 25, with Nassau County being represented by Robert Costello, a high profile lawyer who once represented Rudy Giuliani, and ended March 4 with the verdict.
Nassau County spokesman Christopher Boyle did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Semencic said that he will give the money to his sons.
"I don’t need the money," he said. He just wanted to get an amount that would "upset the hell out of them."
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