Cop indicted in immigrant death faced brutality suit in '05

[ONEEYEDMIC 68]

Cop indicted in immigrant death faced brutality suit in '05

By TIMOTHY O'CONNOR

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: September 14, 2007)

NEW YORK - The Mount Kisco police officer facing criminal charges in the death of a homeless Guatemalan immigrant was named in a police brutality case involving two 14-year-olds during an incident at a Bronx school in 2005.

New York City paid the teenagers $40,000 to settle the federal lawsuit filed last year against George Bubaris and 10 other NYPD officers and supervisors, according to court records.

The lawsuit accused police from the 49th Precinct in the Bronx of kicking 14-year-old Lance Velez, then throwing him into a police van before turning pepper spray on him, as the cops broke up a fight between middle school girls outside F.D. Whalen Junior High School in the Morris Park neighborhood on April 4, 2005. Another 14-year-old, Fabian Parker, charged that he was roughed up and pepper-sprayed after complaining about police tactics. No charges were filed against the youths, their lawyer said.

The lawsuit accused some cops of participating in the alleged attack and others of doing nothing to stop it. But it does not say what role each officer, including Bubaris, was accused of playing.

"My clients really couldn't say from memory who did what. There was a lot going on," said Michael Hueston, the lawyer who represented the youths in the case. "Either way, it was a pretty brutal attack."

In court papers, New York City denied the police did anything wrong. Hueston said the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board cleared the cops of any wrongdoing. A city lawyer who represented the police in the case did not return calls seeking comment.

Bubaris' lawyer in the Mount Kisco case, Edward Hayes, said Bubaris was only vaguely aware of the lawsuit and denied any wrongdoing. He pointed to the relatively low settlement figure as indicative of the case's value.

"The city regularly settles these cases for their nuisance value and that's what happened here," he said.

Bubaris was indicted last week by a Westchester County grand jury on charges of second-degree manslaughter, official misconduct, and unlawful imprisonment in the death of Rene Javier Perez, a homeless 42-year-old man who was found dying by the the side of a road in Bedford on April 28.

Bubaris was one of three Mount Kisco officers who responded to a drunken 911 call for assistance by Perez from a village laundromat that night. Bubaris told police headquarters that it was not a police matter. The two other officers, Edward Dwyer and Lt. Edward Dunigan, went on another call. Forty minutes later, Perez was found unconscious on a desolate stretch of Byram Lake Road in Bedford four miles away.

He died the next morning at Westchester Medical Center. The medical examiner's office said Perez died from internal bleeding and ruled the death a homicide.

Bubaris, 30, has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail. Bubaris, who lives in South Salem, joined the Mount Kisco Police Department in August 2006 after several years as a police officer in New York City.

In the NYPD case, Hueston said he did not know if Bubaris was alleged to have physically harmed the two youths or whether he was merely one of the officers on the scene.

"He doesn't stand out as a main actor," he said. "But it's hard to say because there were several officers there."

Velez claimed he offered no resistance as police kicked him in the head, struck him in the throat and threw him into parked vehicles. Parker said he was thrown into a fence, choked, and placed in a headlock after he complained about the cops' actions.

Velez and Parker said they were handcuffed and sitting in a police van when they were pepper-sprayed.

"Someone took pepper spray and sprayed it inside the van to make them shut up," Hueston said.

The case was settled in January, with the city paying $15,000 to Parker and $25,000 to Velez.

The MEDIA should have a gag order on this case. Of course you know that PROSECUTORS are going to go out of their way to find out any DIRT on OFFICER BURBARIS. I understand that the JURY is going to hear about this in court but come on. At least give this guy a chance. It is bad enough that our JURY SYSTEM LETS GO FAMOUS WIFE KILLING MURDERERS. He doesn't even remember the incident. I am sure that is not the only scuffle he was involved in in THE BRONX. I bet ya he wishes that he stayed in the CITY NOW! I DISLIKE THE MEDIA. CAN I SAY THAT?

[Guest partyrock]

I love this filth they dig up. That was such a nothing incident. The kids were actively resisting and repeatedly kicked the officers. To use pepper spray on a kid in the city always gets scrutinized and there were no findings of any wrong doing by the officers.

[JJB531 652]

And yet another pointless article by the liberal media.....

[20Truck 7]

I love the press! :angry:

[OnTheWheel 43]

Notice they never dig up dirt on cop killers or basic criminals, they may mention in one line their history but they dont go out of their way to do an expose on them! I love this world!!!

[JJB531 652]

Notice they never dig up dirt on cop killers or basic criminals, they may mention in one line their history but they dont go out of their way to do an expose on them! I love this world!!!

The media certainly goes out of their way to do an expose on them... they go back and find their 6th grade graduation picture, tell the story of how they were "turning their life around" and was pursuing a career as an "aspiring rap artist"....

What a load of garbage this world is....

[HFD750 6]

Media... I'm such a fan... :angry:

[20Truck 7]

Did anyone else see the garbage report that aired on news twelve like a week ago, right after stories about MKPD & SHPD about the two rappers from Rockland singing about how the Police abuse them. What a joke! :angry:

[OnTheWheel 43]

The media certainly goes out of their way to do an expose on them... they go back and find their 6th grade graduation picture, tell the story of how they were "turning their life around" and was pursuing a career as an "aspiring rap artist"....

What a load of garbage this world is....

I stand corrected! You are right. They always paint the perrfect picture of these animals! Why dont they mention awards or citations when cops get jammed up>???

[ltjay157 10]

Is it just me, or did the article not allaborate on why thy think the officer is a suspect? Is he a suspect because he had the last known contact with the victim? I bet if they had arressted a plumber as a suspect in this murder, would the caption read Plumber Arressted In The Murder of Illegal Immigrant?

[DOC22 1]

Is it just me, or did the article not allaborate on why thy think the officer is a suspect? Is he a suspect because he had the last known contact with the victim? I bet if they had arressted a plumber as a suspect in this murder, would the caption read Plumber Arressted In The Murder of Illegal Immigrant?

No, they wouldn't. But this has been and, unfortunately will continue to be the trend. The press loves to go after Emergengy workers and as people have posted in other threads, we har held to that "higher standard". While I agree that we are and should be,(held to a higher standard), I see no reason for one incident involving an Emergency Service person to be reported the way it is, giving all of uo that proverbial "black eye". Joe schmoe is "Presumed innocent until proven guilty in a Court of Law" where we, as MOS seem to be guilty until we prove ourselves innocent. Something's definitely wrong with that picture!