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LI cops plead not guilty to brutality

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Eyewitness News

(Ocean Beach-WABC, March 27, 2007) (WABC) -- Four police officers on Long Island are on the wrong side of the law Tuesday.

They surrendered to face charges of police brutality. The investigation is unfolding in Ocean Beach.

All four of the officers, including Ocean Beach Police Chief George Hesse, walked out of criminal court this morning after pleading not guilty.

Chief George Hesse and three other Ocean Beach cops walked into Suffolk County Criminal Court to face criminal charges for brutality.

"Our officers' safety was compromised by police officers who were drinking at night, going on duty the very next morning," former Ocean Beach Police Officer Frank Fiorillo said. "Carrying loaded firearms around children during the daytime. It's very upsetting for me."

That's how Fiorillo remembers his time at the station. He claims the abuse was intolerable. Now Fiorillo and five other former cops claim they were fired for standing up to the brutality, the disrespect and the humiliation.

They have filed a lawsuit, seeking $325 million in damages.

"It's very disheartening to learn that if, in fact, these indictment move forward and prove to be true, that police officers can take into their power to beat somebody senselessly and just, with no conscious, continue with their jobs," Fiorillo said.

All four officers responded to charges today that they brutalized a New Jersey tourist in August 2005. Samuel Gilberd, then a Manhattan software executive, suffered a ruptured bladder.

Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota says Hesse did most of the beating, while the other three watched.

Gilberd was at an Ocean Beach bar on Aug. 28, 2005, when a bouncer accused him of littering. Gilberd was taken immediately by the bouncer across the street to the police department, where he was issued a ticket, said the lawyer, D. Carl Lustig III. The lawyer said police "savagely attacked" Gilberd, kicking him in the gut and dragging him into a room.

"It was a police department gone wild," Spota said at a news conference. "There was no control at all."

Hesse was charged with first-degree assault, gang assault and unlawful imprisonment The three other defendants, identified as 46-year-old Paul Carollo, 51-year-old Arnold Hardman and 42-year-old William Emburey, were charged with unlawful imprisonment, reckless endangerment and hindering prosecution. They are accused of filing a false report about the incident and failing to get prompt medical attention for the victim. Bail was set for the three officers at $10,000, and at $100,000 for Hesse.

Spota said Ocean Beach village officials should have been aware of problems at the police department, because several civil lawsuits alleging police brutality had already been settled quietly with plaintiffs before this alleged attack.

Ocean Beach Mayor Joseph Loeffler, who attended the proceedings, declined to speak to reporters.

Attorney William Keahon, who represents Hesse, contended that Gilberd was drunk and under the influence of drugs when he was confronted by police and suggested that Gilberd was injured in a fall.

"This is about a fellow that was drunk, on drugs, injured himself and now wants to sue," Keahon contended.

Lustig did not dispute that his client had been drinking, but said medical reports indicated his client had no drugs in his system.

Lustig said on Tuesday that his client cooperated with the grand jury investigation and intends to testify against the officers.

"My client is extremely pleased; this is a vindication of what he has said," Lustig said. "This indictment completely refutes the story concocted by police."

A week after the altercation with police, Gilberd was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, allegations the district attorney subsequently dismissed. Gilberd has filed a $22 million federal lawsuit.

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