A Manhattan businessman was forced to spend a harrowing night behind bars after a computer goof led cops to arrest him for allegedly not coughing up a $5 surcharge on a traffic ticket his wife had already paid.

Dominick Russo, 44, told The Post his 15-hour ordeal began when he was mistakenly charged with driving with a suspended license.

Russo said the experience has left him "outraged that my life was being ruled by a computer."

The NYPD and the state Department of Motor Vehicles agree the mistake was caused by a computer glitch - but they blame each other.

Russo and his wife, both real-estate brokers, contend he was a victim of both arrogant cops who failed to use discretion in ordering his arrest and bungling DMV bureaucrats who couldn't keep their records straight.

The flap erupted at about 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 16, Russo said, not long after he dropped off his wife at their Upper West Side apartment. He was stopped by a cop as he prepared to park his new Mercedes-Benz E-320 in a nearby garage.

Russo was told he had been stopped for driving without a seat belt - a charge he denies.

Moments later, a lieutenant ordered Russo's arrest because a computer check showed his license was suspended Oct. 23 for failure to pay the proper penalty for an Oct. 3 seat-belt summons.

After waiting 15 hours in the basement of Manhattan Criminal Court for Russo's arraignment, Mrs. Russo started to worry that they'd be late for the wedding of the daughter of her most important client. She said she threw a "mini-tantrum."

"I told them if my husband wasn't released, I was going to call every newspaper in town and strip naked in the courthouse lobby," she said.

Russo was soon freed on his own recognizance pending a Jan. 22 hearing.

Sgt. Andrew McIness, an NYPD spokesman, insisted cops had no choice but to arrest Russo. He compared the suspension to an arrest warrant.

Mrs. Russo showed The Post a $65 check she wrote to DMV on Oct. 10 - the cost of the $40 fine and $25 surcharge listed on Russo's summons.

DMV spokesman Joe Piechi laid the mess squarely at the hands of the Police Department for mistakenly giving Russo an outmoded summons. He said the up-to-date summons calls for $70, not $65, to cover a mandated $5 increase in the surcharge.

"The situation would have been avoided if the proper ticket was issued," Piechi insisted. "We gave the NYPD these tickets last June," he said.

The charges against Russo are likely to be dropped next month.

NY Post

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2000