Post by WaTcHeR on May 24, 2006 9:45:53 GMT -5
05.24.2006 - Goshen - The stolen dinner was worth $5.50. The case cost a decorated police officer his job.
Middletown police Officer Patrick Moser yesterday pleaded guilty to official misconduct in a deal that ended his 16-year police career and publicly labeled him an alcoholic.
The events began with a police call at 3 a.m. April 9, 2005. Someone had walked out of Kennedy Fried Chicken on North Street without paying.
Moser, 39, and another officer answered the call and later arrested Jacob Fitzgerald, who was charged with petty larceny and resisting arrest.
But Fitzgerald suffered a broken jaw that night and levelled charges of his own. He accused Moser of punching him while he was handcuffed and said that police deprived him of medical attention for hours. Moser later testified that Fitzgerald was drunk and hit his own face on the patrol car partition as he struggled against police.
At a pretrial hearing in September, Moser testified that after arresting Fitzgerald, he brought him to the restaurant so the owner could identify him.
But the owner later told prosecutors that Moser never brought Fitzgerald back to the restaurant. With Moser's credibility in question, prosecutors asked City Court Judge Steve Brockett to drop the case.
On Dec. 16, Moser was indicted in Orange County Court on three felony charges of lying and filing false records as well as the misdemeanor official misconduct.
Yesterday, the prosecution accepted Moser's misdemeanor guilty plea, capping a sentence at a maximum of 60 days in jail and three years on probation.
Prosecutor Chris Borek said he accepted a doctor's report that Moser suffers from alcoholism and recurring depression and didn't intentionally lie.
Judge Jeffrey Berry accepted the plea and said he would sentence Moser on July 26.
The case was a blow for the Middletown Police Department. Moser's guilty plea is likely to harm the department's defense against the federal lawsuit that Fitzgerald filed against police claiming he was assaulted and mistreated.
And it has left a bad mark on the force.
"An incident like this erodes public trust," Chief Matthew Byrne said. He said the department is in a tight spot when an officer might be suffering from a problem but there is not enough evidence to take action.
Moser, who was once commended for pulling people out of a fire, did a lot of good for the department, he said.
"It's a shame," Byrne said. "Sometimes cops throw their career in the toilet before they get any help."
Middletown police Officer Patrick Moser yesterday pleaded guilty to official misconduct in a deal that ended his 16-year police career and publicly labeled him an alcoholic.
The events began with a police call at 3 a.m. April 9, 2005. Someone had walked out of Kennedy Fried Chicken on North Street without paying.
Moser, 39, and another officer answered the call and later arrested Jacob Fitzgerald, who was charged with petty larceny and resisting arrest.
But Fitzgerald suffered a broken jaw that night and levelled charges of his own. He accused Moser of punching him while he was handcuffed and said that police deprived him of medical attention for hours. Moser later testified that Fitzgerald was drunk and hit his own face on the patrol car partition as he struggled against police.
At a pretrial hearing in September, Moser testified that after arresting Fitzgerald, he brought him to the restaurant so the owner could identify him.
But the owner later told prosecutors that Moser never brought Fitzgerald back to the restaurant. With Moser's credibility in question, prosecutors asked City Court Judge Steve Brockett to drop the case.
On Dec. 16, Moser was indicted in Orange County Court on three felony charges of lying and filing false records as well as the misdemeanor official misconduct.
Yesterday, the prosecution accepted Moser's misdemeanor guilty plea, capping a sentence at a maximum of 60 days in jail and three years on probation.
Prosecutor Chris Borek said he accepted a doctor's report that Moser suffers from alcoholism and recurring depression and didn't intentionally lie.
Judge Jeffrey Berry accepted the plea and said he would sentence Moser on July 26.
The case was a blow for the Middletown Police Department. Moser's guilty plea is likely to harm the department's defense against the federal lawsuit that Fitzgerald filed against police claiming he was assaulted and mistreated.
And it has left a bad mark on the force.
"An incident like this erodes public trust," Chief Matthew Byrne said. He said the department is in a tight spot when an officer might be suffering from a problem but there is not enough evidence to take action.
Moser, who was once commended for pulling people out of a fire, did a lot of good for the department, he said.
"It's a shame," Byrne said. "Sometimes cops throw their career in the toilet before they get any help."