MOUNT VERNON
A city police sergeant who was stripped of his gun and badge after he was accused of brutalizing a 12-year-old burglary suspect has been identified by a spokesman for the boy's family.
Sgt. Michael Marcucilli's name was announced yesterday by Damon K. Jones, executive director of the Westchester County chapter of the National Black Police Association.
Marcucilli is a patrol sergeant with 14 years on the force and an unblemished record.
Police Commissioner David Chong was annoyed that Jones released the sergeant's name - as well as the names of other officers associated with the investigation.
"This is an open investigation," Chong said. "We have been investigating it for one week. We are investigating it with the district attorney's Public Integrity Unit.
"Damon Jones has my telephone number, and I have yet to receive a telephone call from him regarding this incident," added Chong. "We are not going to be forced into making rash accusations."
The case is being investigated by police Capt. Edward Adinaro and Lt. Dante Barrera, along with the county District Attorney's Office.
Jones yesterday called for an outside agency to probe the incident, which involved three boys: a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old from Mount Vernon and a 14-year-old from New Rochelle.
The New Rochelle boy's mother, who is a Mount Vernon teacher, was recently arrested in Mount Vernon after a traffic stop and faces a resisting arrest charge. During that incident, police said she fought with an officer and was struck on the legs with a retractable nightstick as she was subdued.
Police said the three boys either broke into A.B. Davis Middle School at 350 Gramatan Ave. about 8:30 p.m. Feb. 28 or were trespassing. They set off an alarm and police responded, surrounding the school and requesting a Yonkers K-9 unit because they did not have one available.
Jones said the parents of the 12-year-old said he was beaten by two police officers when he ran out of the school. He said Marcucilli hit the boy in the head with a retractable nightstick while he was handcuffed, causing a wound that required 19 stitches to the side of the child's head.
The officers told the boy to tell his parents he fell, Jones said, or they would sic the police dog on him.
The 14-year-old boy was bitten several times by the dog on the left leg, Jones said, and was also choked by a police officer.
His mother has filed a complaint against the officers.
The third boy had not filed a complaint. Jones said that a Mount Vernon detective who knows him has urged him not to.
After the incident, the youngest boy's parents tried to file a complaint, but Jones charged that Officer Neil Rosenberg, who works at the desk window, told them they couldn't without a lawyer.
Detectives Martin Bailey and Wayne Vanderpool later went to their house and brought the family back to file the complaint.
Jones said they were forced to wait 45 minutes before they were allowed to file it.
Jones added that Bailey was called "a whistle blower" by other members of the department for facilitating the family's complaint.
"The lone detective who has stood up and said 'enough is enough' cannot stand alone," Jones said in a statement.
The incident came to light after Bailey reported it to the Police Department's Internal Affairs Unit on March 4.
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http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6702209
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