RIVERHEAD — The acting chief and three members of what a prosecutor called an “out of control” police department were charged in a grand jury indictment yesterday with viciously beating a tourist who had been ticketed for littering.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota contended the officers “acted as thugs in police uniforms” and emphasized that the indictments represent the first phase of a widespread investigation into criminal activity by police in Ocean Beach, a popular summer vacation resort village.

Ocean Beach is one of about a dozen villages that dot Fire Island, a strip of beaches off Long Island’s south shore. The village is nicknamed the “Land of No” because of odd ordinances intended to keep order; they once banned eating of cookies on public walkways. It was also the setting for an ABC reality show last summer.

The charges stem from the August 2005 beating of tourist Samuel Gilberd, who was then a Manhattan software executive. An assistant district attorney, Bob Biancavilla, said the victim suffered severe internal injuries, including a ruptured bladder that required 10 days of hospitalization. He still visits a urologist and is undergoing psychiatric care, his lawyer said yesterday.