FDNY FF's Fiery rage at cop

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From: http://www.nydailynews.com

Fiery rage at cop

BY VERONIKA BELENKAYA, ERNIE NASPRETTO, SCOTT SHIFREL and DAVE GOLDINER

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Friday, August 18th, 2006

A jealous FDNY firefighter brutally beat and stomped a cop into unconsciousness early yesterday after lurking outside his ex-girlfriend's Queens home and finding her with the officer, police and witnesses said.

"He just kept on stomping and stomping on his face," said neighbor Noemi Schneider, 28. "The man on the ground looked dead." The vicious battle of the badges took place after off-duty cop Ahmad Kessba, 24, agreed to drive his friend Jennifer Ray home from a Long Island club.

Ray, 21, had argued with her "obsessed" ex-boyfriend, Firefighter Sean Murray, 28, at the club and was concerned he would try to hurt her, sources said. Her fears proved accurate.

When Kessba and Ray pulled up to her Ridgewood home at 4:30 a.m., Murray rushed to the cop's car, police said.

"What's going on?" demanded Murray, who had been waiting down the block, according to a neighbor. "Who the f--- do you think you are?"

Kessba identified himself as a cop and told Murray, who works out of Ladder 140 in Queens, to leave him alone, sources said. "You don't want to do this," said Kessba, who is not dating Ray.

Murray then demanded to see Kessba's police shield. But before the cop could respond, Murray stripped off his own shirt and set upon Kessba. The firefighter choked the cop and pounded his head on the pavement "six to eight times," as Ray screa-med, authorities said. With Kessba unconscious, Murray allegedly tried to get at Ray, who had locked herself in the cop's Infiniti sedan. She called 911 on her cell phone.

Rather than flee, Murray, still raging, returned to Kessba's motionless body, choked him and stomped him again at least six more times, authorities said.

Kessba, who works out of Brooklyn's 62nd Precinct, was taken unconscious to Elmhurst Hospital Center. He suffered a brain hemorrhage, broken bones in his face and severe bruising to his head and neck. His eyes also were swollen shut. But he was conscious last night. "He's talking. He's all right," his brother, Mohammed, said.

Kessba's partner posted an emotional - and threatening - message on the cop's MySpace.com profile yesterday. "It hurt me to see you like that, and to see your father stressed out over his son, but I had to be there for my partner like he was for me," the message reads. "I said a prayer for you and your family."

"He will pay for this I promise you that as a partner and friend, he is going to wish he was never born," the partner continued, adding it's "hammer time."

Murray, who was arraigned early this morning on charges of assaulting a cop and resisting arrest, claimed he was defending himself. "I got punched in the face," said Murray, of Hicksville, L.I., who sported a busted lip as he was led out of the 104th Precinct stationhouse chained to other suspects. "I have a right to hit back. Right?"

Murray, who was suspended by the FDNY, has a criminal record with convictions in New York for disorderly conduct and drunken driving and an arrest in Virginia for reckless speeding, authorities said. At least one bust came after he joined the FDNY two years ago, officials said.

Murray's attorney, Robert Gallo, said the cop butted in on an argument between Murray and Ray.

"The officer interjected himself into a dispute between the woman and the defending witness," Gallo told a Queens judge, who set bail at $250,000.

Ray's disgusted 15-year-old sister said Murray is "obsessed with my sister."

Ray and Murray met when he investigated a gas leak in her building. They recently broke up because Murray refused to let her go out and followed her when she went to Virginia on vacation, her family said.

"She was scared of him," her grandmother said.

On her MySpace page, Ray writes: "Firemen are hot, my advice is never to date one."

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He's done. Sounds like a history of issues.

[DES630 10]

Murray, who was suspended by the FDNY, has a criminal record with convictions in New York for disorderly conduct and drunken driving and an arrest in Virginia for reckless speeding, authorities said. At least one bust came after he joined the FDNY two years ago, officials said.

Why was he still on the job with a criminal record?

[ny10570 745]

recently, fire and pd have been much more relaxed in their background investigation requirements. But asside from that; unless its a felony conviction or a crime related to your new job (ie: arson for ff's) it isn't an issue if you are honest about it with the investigator.