HOBOKEN AND BEYOND – With little fanfare, the case against Vesselin Dittrich, a Hoboken man who said he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after not telling a Port Authority Police Officer what country he was from, was dismissed on Tuesday morning in Hoboken court because a key witness did not appear.
After Dittrich’s case was covered in The Hoboken Reporter , the case was also covered in The New York Times . Dittrich said he believes the media attention also led to the dismissal.
Dittrich was arrested in August 2010 in the Hoboken PATH station after he says he was staring at a woman with many tattoos. Dittrich said he has poor eyesight, and thought the woman looked blue. Dittrich said she took offense to the staring, and after a brief argument, police became involved. Dittrich said the Port Authority police officer asked for pedigree information, but said there would be no charges.
However, after Dittrich was asked what country he was from, and he declined to tell, he says he was arrested for disorderly conduct.
Dittrich speaks with an eastern European accent and is from Bulgaria. He is an American citizen.
The woman with the tattoos was the key witness who did not attend the case on Tuesday morning, despite being asked to appear.
The prosecutor and attorneys for the Port Authority, as well as police officers in the court, said they were ready to prosecute if the witness had appeared. However, Prosecutor Ron Venturi said the case would be dismissed based on the fact that the key witness was not present. Court transcripts show that Dittrich was told he could face jail time for the offense after he refused to plea down and accept a lower charge.
Venturi referred questions to a city spokesperson following the dismissal on Tuesday morning.
For Dittrich, a 16-month court battle has come to an end, and he was full of smiles as he exited the courtroom.
“I can’t say I feel vindicated, because I didn’t have my day in court,” Dittrich said outside City Hall following the dismissal. He said there was no reason for him to be arrested in the first place, and that he wanted to prove it in court.
Dittrich is a member of People for Open Government, a local government activist group. He said he believes his involvement in POG led to an aggressive case against him.
For previous stories on Dittrich, see links below. — Ray Smith