Wednesday, June 1st 2011, 4:00 AM
A cop tried to skirt a Thanksgiving Day drunken-driving arrest by asking a sergeant and union delegate to make the case disappear, sources told the Daily News.
The would-be fixers tried to get Anthony Rodriguez, 27, off the hook after two Bronx patrol cops found him drunk and passed out behind the wheel of his illegally parked Honda in Belmont, sources said.
But the arresting officers, Lt. Luis Colon and Officer Fidel Hernandez, refused to toss the case because Rodriguez took a physically threatening stance during the traffic stop, sources said.
"They probably would have let him go if he hadn't gotten in their faces, especially on Thanksgiving," said a source with knowledge of the case. "People tried to make it go away. But he crossed a line."
Court records show that Rodriguez, who was parked facing south in a northbound lane of Southern Blvd., had five open beer bottles in his Honda when the cops found him. He refused to take a Breathalyzer test.
"I'm a cop," slurred the Manhattan courts officer, according to court records. "I want a delegate."
Rodriguez refused to place his arms behind his back, but Colon and Hernandez eventually cuffed and arrested him, records show.
Later that night, the sergeant and a union delegate made calls to borough patrol cops to try to erase the arrest, sources said.
"They wouldn't budge," a source said.
Rodriguez, who was charged with DWI and resisting arrest, is scheduled to appear in court June 20. He was suspended by the NYPD.
The cop, on the force five years, was also busted for resisting arrest last June after he caused a booze-fueled ruckus during a Mets game, sources said.
Rodriguez could not be reached for comment.
The attempts to squash his DWI case emerged as part of a massive investigation into ticket-fixing in the Bronx, sources said.
A grand jury is expected to indict about 40 cops this month for their involvement in the scandal, sources said. About 100 more cops could face departmental charges.
It's not clear whether the sergeant or union delegate who made calls on Rodriguez's behalf will be criminally charged.
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