|
NY Post Garden City, New York Five former Fire Island cops say they were fired for complaining that their station house was run like a frat house - with piña coladas flowing freely and their horny chief engaging in "sexual escapades" on duty. Their wrongful-termination lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn federal court, reads like a scene from the movie "Porky's." The fired officers claim that acting Chief George Hesse forced them to chauffeur him to sex romps, had "rocket-fuel" piña coladas delivered from a local bar on Sunday nights, and let cops under his command spend whole shifts drinking away at watering holes. After his on-duty trysts, Hesse would allegedly brag, "She just had the German sausage," Frank Fiorillo said yesterday at a press conference. Fiorillo, Edward Carter, Kevin Lamm, Joseph Nofi and Thomas Snyder say they were fired last year after griping about a "regime of corruption" that even sought to have them cover up for dirty cops. Their suit seeks $325 million in damages. Calls to Hesse were directed to the village's lawyer, Anthony Marino, who declined comment.
Wires Garden City, New York Five members of a tiny Fire Island village police department claim they were wrongfully fired by an acting police chief who associated with a drug dealer, had sex in department headquarters and covered up cases of brutality. The officers say they were targeted because of what were then unfounded fears by the chief that they were cooperating with an ongoing investigation by Suffolk County prosecutors into allegations of corruption in the Ocean Beach village police department. Now that they've been fired, they are indeed cooperating with that probe, their lawyer said Thursday. "This is an acting police chief who is running the police department like a fraternity house," said Doug Wigdor, a former prosecutor who is representing the five officers in a wrongful-termination lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court. "Thankfully, these five police officers came forward to expose him and put an end to his practices." Maryanne Minerva, who identified herself as the Ocean Beach village administrator, said no village or police official would comment on the allegations in the lawsuit. Acting Chief George Hesse, in an interview with Newsday, would not say why he terminated the officers but said it was his prerogative. The lawsuit contends that although Hesse told three of the men they were fired because of budget cuts, he told other officers the three were fired because they were "rats." The suit also says Hesse suspected two of the officers "were to wear a wire" in support of District Attorney Thomas Spota's investigation of the department. A Spota spokesman, Robert Clifford, confirmed an investigation was under way but declined to elaborate. Ocean Beach is among a series of popular summer vacation spots running the length of Fire Island, off the south shore of Long Island. ABC-TV filmed a short-lived reality show based in Ocean Beach last summer. Many of the villages on Fire Island are accessible only by ferry. The officers also claim in their lawsuit that Hesse instructed them to avoid certain bars where alcohol was being served to minors. He also ordered one of the fired officers to drive him to a party at the home of a "known drug dealer," identifying the dealer as "a close personal friend," the lawsuit contends. The lawsuit also claims Hesse sought to alter reports on a bar brawl that took place on Halloween 2004 allegedly involving a number of off-duty Ocean Beach officers. Hesse made attempts to change police reports about the incident to protect his friends, as well as officers involved in the fight, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit also contends Hesse required officers "during their tours of duty, to chauffeur him to and from different residences both inside and out of Ocean Beach so Hesse could engage in sexual escapades." The officers also told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the chief had sexual relations with women inside police headquarters. The lawsuit seeks millions in damages — an exact amount will be determined at trial — but the fired officers said their priority was to get their jobs back and have their reputations restored. "I want to see him removed in the worst way," fired officer Frank Fiorello said of Hesse. "He is an unethical man and should never be in a uniform; he is a disgrace to the badge. "I'm offended I got fired for doing my job." The other four officers filing the lawsuit are: Thomas Snyder, Edward Carter, Kevin Lamm and Joseph Nofi.
|
