Post by coots on May 5, 2014 18:50:56 GMT -5
Nassau Cop Who Shot Unarmed Cabbie in 2011 Fired
The Nassau County Police Department fired officer Anthony DiLeonardo, who was off-duty in February 2011 when he shot an unarmed cabdriver in Huntington Station after a night of drinking, a department spokesman said
The Nassau County Police Department Monday fired officer Anthony DiLeonardo, who was off-duty in February 2011 when he shot an unarmed cabdriver in Huntington Station after a night of drinking, a department spokesman said.
DiLeonardo's termination is effective immediately, Insp. Kenneth Lack said in a statement.
DiLeonardo, who police department investigators found recklessly escalated a road-rage dispute, was never suspended after the Feb. 27, 2011, incident in which he fired his service weapon five times at cabbie Thomas Moroughan. DiLeonardo was most recently assigned to the Third Precinct on restricted duty, which means he was assigned administrative tasks and not allowed on patrol.
"The egregious conduct and breach of public trust by former Police Officer Anthony DiLeonardo will not be tolerated by the Nassau County Police Department," Nassau Police Acting Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said in a statement to Newsday.
Krumpter declined to comment further, citing the state's Civil Rights Law 50-a, which makes all information used to evaluate police officers, including investigations into officer misconduct, confidential.
It was that law that kept the case hidden from the public for two years, until a Newsday reporter last June found that Nassau's internal affairs report of the incident had been accidentally left unsealed in the court file of a $30 million federal civil-rights lawsuit Moroughan filed.
That internal affairs investigation concluded in 2012 that DiLeonardo be brought up on 19 departmental charges, but disciplinary actions against the officer did not begin until after Newsday reported about the lawsuit, which names Nassau and Suffolk counties, DiLeonardo, officer Edward Bienz, who was with DiLeonardo the night of the shooting, and other officers as defendants.
The investigation recommended five departmental charges against Bienz, who the investigation found committed two unlawful acts and three counts of violating department rules.
Nassau Police Benevolent Association president James Carver declined to comment on DiLeonardo's termination.
But DiLeonardo's attorney, Bruce Barket, refused to confirm his client's firing, but vowed to sue the department if he were terminated. He said DiLeonardo would not comment.
"Anything that happened with Anthony would be confidential," Barket said. "Our position remains that Anthony did nothing wrong. If he's terminated by the police department, we will sue the police department to get his job reinstated. There's been no judicial review of any of the events that took place that night in Huntington."
Barket blasted the internal affairs report as "virtually worthless" and its chief investigator, who he said had never previously investigated a use-of-force case. He said the department's Deadly Force Response Team had found DiLeonardo's conduct appropriate. Any action by the department against DiLeonardo, Barket said, is a "political move" because the internal affairs report "embarrassed the commissioner."
The firing comes more than three years after the incident, and amid several other high-profile police-misconduct cases and the abrupt resignation last year of Commissioner Thomas Dale.
The Nassau internal affairs report found that DiLeonardo shot at Moroughan five times with a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson. The cabdriver was hit once in the left arm and once in the chest as his girlfriend sat beside him in the front seat, according to the internal report.
The report deemed 11 of the 19 charges against DiLeonardo to be unlawful acts -- seven of them felonies -- and eight departmental rules violations.
Both off-duty officers were found to have engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer and were unfit for duty by reason of intoxicants, among other violations of department rules. The report did not address whether the officers should be charged criminally, and it did not indicate whether the recommended departmental charges were ever brought.
To date, no criminal charges have been filed against either man.
The Nassau County Police Department fired officer Anthony DiLeonardo, who was off-duty in February 2011 when he shot an unarmed cabdriver in Huntington Station after a night of drinking, a department spokesman said
The Nassau County Police Department Monday fired officer Anthony DiLeonardo, who was off-duty in February 2011 when he shot an unarmed cabdriver in Huntington Station after a night of drinking, a department spokesman said.
DiLeonardo's termination is effective immediately, Insp. Kenneth Lack said in a statement.
DiLeonardo, who police department investigators found recklessly escalated a road-rage dispute, was never suspended after the Feb. 27, 2011, incident in which he fired his service weapon five times at cabbie Thomas Moroughan. DiLeonardo was most recently assigned to the Third Precinct on restricted duty, which means he was assigned administrative tasks and not allowed on patrol.
"The egregious conduct and breach of public trust by former Police Officer Anthony DiLeonardo will not be tolerated by the Nassau County Police Department," Nassau Police Acting Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said in a statement to Newsday.
Krumpter declined to comment further, citing the state's Civil Rights Law 50-a, which makes all information used to evaluate police officers, including investigations into officer misconduct, confidential.
It was that law that kept the case hidden from the public for two years, until a Newsday reporter last June found that Nassau's internal affairs report of the incident had been accidentally left unsealed in the court file of a $30 million federal civil-rights lawsuit Moroughan filed.
That internal affairs investigation concluded in 2012 that DiLeonardo be brought up on 19 departmental charges, but disciplinary actions against the officer did not begin until after Newsday reported about the lawsuit, which names Nassau and Suffolk counties, DiLeonardo, officer Edward Bienz, who was with DiLeonardo the night of the shooting, and other officers as defendants.
The investigation recommended five departmental charges against Bienz, who the investigation found committed two unlawful acts and three counts of violating department rules.
Nassau Police Benevolent Association president James Carver declined to comment on DiLeonardo's termination.
But DiLeonardo's attorney, Bruce Barket, refused to confirm his client's firing, but vowed to sue the department if he were terminated. He said DiLeonardo would not comment.
"Anything that happened with Anthony would be confidential," Barket said. "Our position remains that Anthony did nothing wrong. If he's terminated by the police department, we will sue the police department to get his job reinstated. There's been no judicial review of any of the events that took place that night in Huntington."
Barket blasted the internal affairs report as "virtually worthless" and its chief investigator, who he said had never previously investigated a use-of-force case. He said the department's Deadly Force Response Team had found DiLeonardo's conduct appropriate. Any action by the department against DiLeonardo, Barket said, is a "political move" because the internal affairs report "embarrassed the commissioner."
The firing comes more than three years after the incident, and amid several other high-profile police-misconduct cases and the abrupt resignation last year of Commissioner Thomas Dale.
The Nassau internal affairs report found that DiLeonardo shot at Moroughan five times with a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson. The cabdriver was hit once in the left arm and once in the chest as his girlfriend sat beside him in the front seat, according to the internal report.
The report deemed 11 of the 19 charges against DiLeonardo to be unlawful acts -- seven of them felonies -- and eight departmental rules violations.
Both off-duty officers were found to have engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer and were unfit for duty by reason of intoxicants, among other violations of department rules. The report did not address whether the officers should be charged criminally, and it did not indicate whether the recommended departmental charges were ever brought.
To date, no criminal charges have been filed against either man.
