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Four-year legal odyssey ends as state’s highest court revives charges against Henry Fuentes
You can’t make this stuff up.
A boozed-up Long Islander who got himself wedged into a toddler swing behind an abandoned house — and had to call 911 for help — thanked the responding Suffolk Police officer by allegedly demanding his tequila back and stealing her patrol car, authorities said.
Now, nearly six years after Henry Fuentes’ bizarre night of mayhem in January 2020, New York’s highest court has breathed new life into the case against him, ruling 5-2 this week that charges improperly dismissed by a lower court judge can move forward, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.
The wild sequence of events sounds a bit crazy to be true — but court records say it happened.
Fuentes, 19 years old at the time, had been drinking behind an abandoned house and somehow wedged himself into a child’s swing set and couldn’t get out. He dialed 911.
Suffolk Police Officer Danielle Congedo arrived to find the man trapped in playground equipment, according to court documents reviewed by Greater Long Island. She helped free him, offered to call an ambulance, and when he refused medical attention, even volunteered to drive him home, Tierney said.
That’s when things went sideways.
Upon arriving at his residence, Fuentes allegedly demanded the cop give him back his bottle of tequila. When Congedo refused, Fuentes allegedly shoved her into the car, took her keys and jumped behind the wheel.
The officer managed to radio for backup before Fuentes could drive off, and he was quickly taken into custody. Authorities did not disclose the location of the abandoned home where police said Fuentes was found.
Fuentes was charged with he was charged with obstruction of governmental administration, petit larceny, harassment in the second degree, and unlawful possession of alcohol.
The case took its legal twist when a defense attorney claimed prosecutors failed to properly disclose Internal Affairs records involving the Congedo — even though those records cleared the officer of any wrongdoing in an unrelated federal lawsuit.
A lower court judge bought the defense argument and tossed the case in early 2022.
Congedo, and multiple other cops, had been sued in connection with a 911 response to “a man with a gun.” It was alleged that, after responding to that scene, the officers illegally searched the plaintiff’s home when securing his weapons.
In connection with constitutional and statutory disclosure obligations, the information regarding the federal lawsuit was disclosed to the defense, for whatever value it might have provided during cross-examination of the police officer, Tierney said.
Tierney appealed the lower court’s decision, and after a four-year odyssey through the courts, the state’s Court of Appeals sided with prosecutors, ruling the district attorney’s office had properly disclosed all relevant information.
The misdemeanor case now returns to Suffolk County criminal court, where Fuentes will again faces charges — years after allegedly turning a swing-set rescue into a carjacking.
We’re guessing he never got his tequila back.
Top photos: (main) GLI file photo of Suffolk Police squad car; (inset) Pexels.com
