Post by admin on Jun 13, 2009 8:50:39 GMT -5
www.app.com/article/20090612/NEWS/906130316/1004/NEWS01
FREEHOLD — A disciplinary hearing concerning an alleged police brutality incident will be held next week, news that follows recent anger over the promotion of the implicated officer.
The hearing is being held to determine whether "minor" disciplinary charges brought as the result of an internal police investigation should be sustained. If they are sustained, then the called-for disciplinary action would be carried out, borough attorney Kerry Higgins said.
Higgins did not say what charges were levied, and she would not confirm who the charges were brought against.
Freehold Township resident Migdalia Irizzary, however, has named borough police Officer Christopher Colaner as the man who allegedly hurt her and her teenage son during a traffic stop in January 2008.
Irizzary claims that Colaner ordered her from her vehicle then twisted her arm behind her back. After her son yelled at Colaner to stop, Irizzary says Colaner punched him in the mouth, placed him in a choke hold and threw him to the ground.
Police have said that Irizzary's son hit an officer and that another was hurt trying to subdue him.
Irizzary has filed notice that she plans to seek monetary damages for the incident. Her attorney in the civil matter, Andrew Zapcic of Hazlet, says he likely will file a lawsuit in federal court.
Irizzary has largely kept quiet since the alleged incident. She recently broke her silence, however, to protest Colaner's promotion on June 1 from patrolman to sergeant.
"It's not fair. It's not fair," Irizzary said in an emotional conversation Thursday.
Irizzary's supporters have voiced similar criticism.
"It (the promotion) is an arrogant use of power. It's a disrespect of the public," said borough resident Frank Argote-Freyre, director of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey's Monmouth County chapter.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office closed its criminal investigation into the brutality accusations last year, when Irizzary and her son, now 17, chose not to make formal statements to authorities on the advice of their legal counsel.
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But without a public resolution of the borough's internal investigation, Argote-Freyre called Colaner's promotion "premature and insensitive."
Police Chief Mitch Roth did not respond to requests for comment.
Colaner's promotion earned him a salary bump from $98,879 to $106,356, according to Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina.
"A year and a half later, and we're still going through the court process. And he (Colaner) is getting a promotion and a raise," Irizzary said Thursday.
Irizzary was charged last year with obstructing the administration of law and resisting arrest. Her son was charged on a juvenile complaint with third-degree aggravated assault and resisting arrest.
Police were investigating an assault committed by several men the night of the arrest. They said last year that Irizzary's vehicle was stopped because it resembled the one in which the men drove off.
Next week's hearing had been delayed partly because officials were waiting for resolution of the alleged victims' criminal charges, in hopes they would then testify. The victims' attorney had advised them not to give statements or cooperate in the disciplinary proceedings, Higgins said.
Though those charges are still pending, officials decided they could not wait any longer to address the disciplinary matter, Higgins said.
FREEHOLD — A disciplinary hearing concerning an alleged police brutality incident will be held next week, news that follows recent anger over the promotion of the implicated officer.
The hearing is being held to determine whether "minor" disciplinary charges brought as the result of an internal police investigation should be sustained. If they are sustained, then the called-for disciplinary action would be carried out, borough attorney Kerry Higgins said.
Higgins did not say what charges were levied, and she would not confirm who the charges were brought against.
Freehold Township resident Migdalia Irizzary, however, has named borough police Officer Christopher Colaner as the man who allegedly hurt her and her teenage son during a traffic stop in January 2008.
Irizzary claims that Colaner ordered her from her vehicle then twisted her arm behind her back. After her son yelled at Colaner to stop, Irizzary says Colaner punched him in the mouth, placed him in a choke hold and threw him to the ground.
Police have said that Irizzary's son hit an officer and that another was hurt trying to subdue him.
Irizzary has filed notice that she plans to seek monetary damages for the incident. Her attorney in the civil matter, Andrew Zapcic of Hazlet, says he likely will file a lawsuit in federal court.
Irizzary has largely kept quiet since the alleged incident. She recently broke her silence, however, to protest Colaner's promotion on June 1 from patrolman to sergeant.
"It's not fair. It's not fair," Irizzary said in an emotional conversation Thursday.
Irizzary's supporters have voiced similar criticism.
"It (the promotion) is an arrogant use of power. It's a disrespect of the public," said borough resident Frank Argote-Freyre, director of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey's Monmouth County chapter.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office closed its criminal investigation into the brutality accusations last year, when Irizzary and her son, now 17, chose not to make formal statements to authorities on the advice of their legal counsel.
(2 of 2)
But without a public resolution of the borough's internal investigation, Argote-Freyre called Colaner's promotion "premature and insensitive."
Police Chief Mitch Roth did not respond to requests for comment.
Colaner's promotion earned him a salary bump from $98,879 to $106,356, according to Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina.
"A year and a half later, and we're still going through the court process. And he (Colaner) is getting a promotion and a raise," Irizzary said Thursday.
Irizzary was charged last year with obstructing the administration of law and resisting arrest. Her son was charged on a juvenile complaint with third-degree aggravated assault and resisting arrest.
Police were investigating an assault committed by several men the night of the arrest. They said last year that Irizzary's vehicle was stopped because it resembled the one in which the men drove off.
Next week's hearing had been delayed partly because officials were waiting for resolution of the alleged victims' criminal charges, in hopes they would then testify. The victims' attorney had advised them not to give statements or cooperate in the disciplinary proceedings, Higgins said.
Though those charges are still pending, officials decided they could not wait any longer to address the disciplinary matter, Higgins said.
