An NYPD cop hurt while raiding a Queens home is suing a bank for allowing the property to fall into the hands of criminals.
Officer Paul Franzese was “severely injured” while using a battering ram to break down the door of the Springfield Gardens home in February 2013, he claims in a lawsuit.
Two suspects were arrested there for allegedly using the two-family house on 145th Drive for “the sale and manufacturing of guns and drugs,” court papers say.
The house was owned by US Bank National Association, which “knowingly allowed illicit and criminal activity to occur on the . . . premises,” the suit says.
Police allegedly found Imran Prentice, 26, and Brian Price, 29, with more than 8 ounces of marijuana, and one of the men was face-down on a balcony. Both were arrested and charged with trespassing and marijuana possession.
The cop is suing the bank in Manhattan Supreme Court for negligence, charging that it “knew of specific prior instances of drug sale and/or other dangerous conduct” at the address.
US Bank claims it didn’t own the home but was simply the “trustee” of the defaulted mortgage.