Officers Plan to Plead Not Guilty

SCHENECTADY

Three city officers accused of beating a drunken driving suspect last winter are scheduled to be arraigned today on criminal charges related to the altercation.

Attorneys for patrolmen Andrew Karaskiewicz and Eric Reyell say their clients plan to plead not guilty to charges in an indictment which is expected to be unsealed by County Court Judge Karen Drago.

Sources familiar with the investigation who requested anonymity identified the third officer facing charges for his alleged role in the incident as Officer Gregory Hafensteiner.

Cheryl Coleman, who represents Reyell, said an official with the state Attorney General's office told her to make arrangements to have her client fingerprinted and processed.

"Obviously they are charging him with something," she said.

Attorney General's office spokesman John Milgrim declined comment. The agency is looking into the allegations related to an incident involving Donald L. Randolph on Dec. 7. The Pattersonville man claims Hafensteiner, Reyell, Karaskiewicz, Daryl Mallard and Kevin Derkowski beat and kicked him at a Union Street McDonald's parking lot and again at Union and McClellan streets. The officers have been on paid leave since late December.

In May, Randolph pleaded guilty in City Court to a misdemeanor second-degree unlicensed motor vehicle operation after originally facing felony driving while intoxicated and a harassment violation. He is suing the department.

The latest development on the brutality case comes as the city is poised to name a new chief in a bid to regain public confidence after various criminal charges against police officers.

Though he stressed he had no official word the officers would be indicted, city Councilman Gary McCarthy, who also chairs the public safety committee, said the latest "self-inflicted wound" is bad news and "another unfortunate incident in the history of the police department," he said.