By Luis Perez and Rocco Parascandola, Staff Writers
Newsday
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
Three cops used their batons to quell a Halloween melee in Broad Channel because they were surrounded by a rowdy group, some of whom were yelling a racial slur at a black detective, a police official said yesterday.
The detective was taunted as some members of the group yelled "-- cop!” - indicating that although the detective was in plainclothes, those in the predominantly white group knew he was a police officer, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
That would appear to refute claims by witnesses who said the detective came out swinging, striking at least two people with his department-issued baton.
The incident, which occurred late Tuesday afternoon in the Queens neighborhood, prompted what the official called a preliminary investigation by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau. Part of the investigation will involve trying to locate video of the altercation.
Five people have been charged, including a mother and son. Two of the suspects are alleged to have physically attacked the black detective. The official said authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the case could be prosecuted in part as a hate crime.
The official said a number of officers were dispatched to Cross Bay Boulevard after getting calls about teens throwing eggs and damaging property.
Police dispersed the crowd and the incident appeared to be over. But then more eggs were thrown, this time at an unmarked police car parked at West 10th Road. Three cops - the black detective, a white sergeant and a white officer - got out of the car, and tensions escalated, the official said.
One suspect, Patricia Rich, 44, told police the eggs came from a nearby rooftop, a story police did not believe, the official said.
Police gave the following account: While Rich was being questioned, her son, Patrick, 17, allegedly jumped on the detective’s back. As police moved to arrest him, his mother allegedly interfered with police, allowing Patrick to break free.
Police at that point arrested the mother, the official said. Her son ran off and jumped into the waist-deep waters of Broad Channel, but was arrested minutes later.
Back on land, about 100 people had gathered, with a number of them taunting police and using racial slurs, the official said. The cops called for backup from more officers.
The black detective was attacked again, allegedly by Nicholas Stack, 16, who punched and pushed the detective.
The detective, along with the officer and sergeant, at one point “reported being surrounded by a mob of people,” the official said. Those cops, the official said, used their batons “to defend themselves.”
Patricia Rich was charged with obstructing governmental administration. Her son faces the same charges, plus inciting to riot, unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct.
Stack was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct. Robert Glade, 22, a relative of the Rich family, was charged with inciting to riot and disorderly conduct. The official said Glade was heard using the racial epithet.
The fifth suspect, Sean O’Connor, 38, was issued a summons for disorderly conduct.
Patricia Rich was profiled by Newsday in December 2003 following the death of her son, John, 16, who was struck by the Rockaway Beach shuttle after falling onto the tracks.
The family and authorities immediately suspected foul play because the teen, a student at Beach Channel High School, was due to testify against two men who a year earlier had stabbed him in the abdomen during a street fight. John Rich’s death was ruled an accident, and authorities said he fell after a night of heavy drinking.
The stabbing case proceeded, and suspects Frank Ambrosio and Nicholas Minucci pleaded guilty and were sentenced to probation.