Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 21, 1991 TAG: 9103210496
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Short
Off-duty officers cheered when the defendants appeared. They chanted, "No justice, no service."
Sgt. Barry Goldblatt, 49, and Officers John O'Connell, 25, Anthony Papparella, 28, Thomas Loefell, 26, and James McMorrow, 29, were released without bail.
They were indicted in the February death of Frederico Pereira, 21. He died after being rousted from sleep in a stolen car.
The officers had reported Pereira died after becoming violent and banging his head on the ground.
But the medical examiner concluded Pereira had been choked to death, and investigators determined he had been hit, kicked and throttled while lying face-down, his hands cuffed behind his back, Queens District Attorney John Santucci said.
"There's no death penalty in this state and if there was, it wasn't up to the police to enforce it," Santucci said.
The officers were suspended without pay, Police Commissioner Lee Brown ordered a review of their precinct in Queens, and the department issued new rules for handling unruly suspects.
Witnesses said Pereira was punched and kicked before "one of the officers placed his hands around the throat of the victim," Santucci said.
Department regulations prohibit chokeholds unless an officer's life is in danger.
by CNB