Cops Charged

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) – The acting police chief and three officers in a small resort town on Fire Island were indicted Tuesday on charges that they beat a vacationer accused of littering, injuring him so severely he was hospitalized for 10 days.Acting Chief George Hesse pleaded not guilty to first-degree assault, gang assault and unlawful imprisonment in the 2005 beating of tourist Samuel Gilberd, a software executive from New York City.Mr. Gilberd suffered severe internal injuries, including a ruptured bladder that required 10 days in a hospital, Assistant District Attorney Bob Biancavilla said.“This indictment means nothing,” Chief Hesse’s attorney William Keaho said. “The presumption is my client is innocent.”Chief Hesse’s bail was set at $100,000.The three other defendants, all part-time police officers, were charged with unlawful imprisonment, reckless endangerment and hindering prosecution. They are accused of filing a false report and failing to get prompt medical attention for Mr. Gilberd.Ocean Beach is a popular tourist destination whose population swells from 138 year-round residents to more than 6,000 summer renters and day-trippers. The village is nicknamed the “Land of No” because of odd ordinances such as a ban on eating cookies on public walkways.Ocean Beach Mayor Joseph Loeffler declined to comment.The 24-member Ocean Beach police department had been the subject of a county grand jury probe since December.Last week, five former police officers claimed they were wrongfully fired by Chief Hesse, who they said associated with a drug dealer, had sex in department headquarters and covered up cases of brutality. In an interview with Newsday, Chief Hesse would not say why he fired the five officers.“This is an acting police chief who is running the police department like a fraternity house,” said the fired officers’ attorney Doug Wigdor.Village and police officials have declined to comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit filed in Federal District Court seeks millions in damages – an exact amount will be determined at trial – and the restoration of their jobs.At the time, the officers said they were targeted by the acting chief over fears they were cooperating with the Suffolk County inquiry into corruption in the department. Their lawyer said they were cooperating now that they had been fired.

Cops Charged

Cops Charged

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