Nassau cops: Lawyer tried to bribe officer on breath test
An attorney and self-professed scientist tried to bribe an officer to skew the results of his breath-alcohol test, Nassau police said Tuesday.
Even after the cop operating the breath-testing machine refused a $1,000 bribe, Elmont attorney Unni Krishnan, 54, wrote out a check for $2,000 payable to the officer, police said.
"He upped the ante a bit," said Det. Lt. Raymond Cote, commander of the Third Detectives squad.
Krishnan, whose business card lists him as an attorney with a doctorate, told the officer in county police headquarters Monday around 8:30 p.m. that he was a scientist who could rig the machine to give false results, Cote said.
Krishnan was charged with felony bribery and drunken driving.
"Mr. Krishnan had the audacity to question the integrity of the officer and that of our agency," Cote said.
Police found Krishnan at Fletcher Avenue and Howell Road in North Valley Stream for a reported car accident. There, an officer saw a 1995 Nissan that had hit a utility pole -- and an intoxicated Krishnan, police said.
Krishnan, of 720 Marick Ct., was taken to the police Central Testing Section in Mineola, where he tried to bribe the officer, police said.
Krishnan told the officer doing the testing, "I'll give you $1,000 if you fix it so that I can go home tonight." The officer called over a supervising sergeant, who scolded Krishnan.
"The sergeant comes over to him and says, 'You're an attorney. You should know better. This can't happen.' "
'I am a scientist, and I know how this works,' " Krishnan allegedly said of the machine he wanted to tinker with.
Then, Krishnan insisted writing the check, police said.
He was then charged with bribery of a public servant in addition to aggravated driving while intoxicated and driving while intoxicated. An arraignment judge released Krishnan with no bail.
The charge of aggravated driving while intoxicated means he is accused of consuming about double the legal limit.
Police said they were legally prohibited from releasing his breath-test results, but Krishnan told police he'd had only one drink at a conference.
A 1997 graduate of Touro Law School, Krishnan is listed in the Martindale-Hubbell legal directory as Kodampallil Ramakrishna Unnikrishnan, with an office at 1170 Broadway in Manhattan. The state court system lists him at the same address, under the name Unni Krishnan. He was admitted to the bar in 1997. There was no answer at phone numbers listed in public records, or at Krishnan's law practice on file with the state.
Posted Saturday, November 8, 2008
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