We all know punk rock is about wearing a torn Bad Company tee and kicking over little kids' toy trucks in Central Park playgrounds while secretly jamming out to Fall Out Boy in the privacy of your own bedroom sticking it to the man, but one Port Authority cop moonlighting as a rocker allegedly took it farther than all those wannabe Joey Ramones out there. He was arrested and arraigned today for filing injury-related insurance claims while simultaneously playing rock shows with his band...seemingly uninjured. Anarchy in the PAPD, man!
According to a complaint filed in federal court yesterday, Christopher Inserra, who has been with the Port Authority for the past five years, claimed he injured his right arm on the job. And that injury, about which Inserra consulted several PA doctors, persisted for quite some time, with Inserra reportedly collecting full pay and $31,486.66 in short-term disability payments from June 2010 until March of last year. But though Inserra insisted he "continued to be in constant pain, had difficulty using his right hand, and could not fully bend his right arm at the elbow," he must have been touched by the healing power of rock!
During the period of his alleged injury, he performed as lead singer of his Brooklyn-based band Cousin Sleaze and even went on tour with them in September 2011, with Facebook photos, MySpace photos and YouTube video footage capturing him "violently flailing and thrashing" that injured right arm, in addition to holding a microphone in his right hand and bending and extending his arm. Medical personnel who had examined Inserra say his movements are inconsistent with the injury he presented to them, but take a gander at this Miles of Mayhem tour video, and judge for yourself:
Inserra, 31, was arrested today and arraigned in front of a Brooklyn judge. A spokesman at the Brooklyn US Attorney's office tells us he was released on $25,000 bail; we reached out to Inserra's attorney as well as the Port Authority, and will update when we hear back. Inserra faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted, and don't forget to download Cousin Sleaze's new album, "Sick Maniacs," on bandcamp!
