Greece police Sgt. Robert Trowbridge, who was suspended by town officials last week, was arraigned today after being arrested by State Police.
Trowbridge has been charged with the felony of offering a false instrument in the first degree.
Trowbridge was arraigned in Riga Town Court this afternoon and pleaded not guilty.
Read the felony complaint
A felony complaint filed in Riga Town Court alleges that in April 2002, Trowbridge falsified information in a background check of former Officer Gary Pignato, who was convicted this year of coercing a woman into sex. The complaint says he attributed the information to several Rochester Police Department command officers, including Chief Robert Duffy, now the Rochester mayor, and former deputy chiefs Vincent Faggiano and James Sheppard.
The filing of a false report by a police officer can be the basis of a criminal charge.
Faggiano and Sheppard declined to comment today. Duffy said that he has talked recently with investigators about the Pignato background report. Duffy said he did not provide any information to Trowbridge or Greece police for a check into Pignato’s background in 2002.
“There was no way I would ever give a positive job recommendation (for Pignato),” said Duffy, who noted that Pignato unsuccessfully sued the city in 1997 over his firing from Rochester police.
Prosecutors say Trowbridge admitted falsifying the background report, and said he did so at the direction of now-suspended Police Chief Merritt Rahn.
“We believe he was acting at the direction of someone else,” DA Green said today.
Green said the ongoing investigation into the Greece police continues to grow.
“This investigation unfortunately seems to expand every time we turn a corner,” he said. ” … In my mind, my estimation, it is a large investigation, a very serious investigation.”
The disciplinary charges that led to Trowbridge’s suspension stem from an ongoing internal probe of the Greece Police Department by acting Director of Public Safety Joseph Loszynski.
Loszynski said the investigation does not end with Trowbridge’s arrest.
“This will end when I make the determination there are no more viable leads to follow.”
He said he is looking into any role that Rahn may have played in Pignato’s background check.
Town Supervisor John Auberger said the allegedly falsified report “has had very serious implications” for the town and residents.
“If an accurate background had been provided, Mr. Pignato would not have been hired,” he said.
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Trowbridge has been charged with the felony of offering a false instrument in the first degree.
Trowbridge was arraigned in Riga Town Court this afternoon and pleaded not guilty.
Read the felony complaint
A felony complaint filed in Riga Town Court alleges that in April 2002, Trowbridge falsified information in a background check of former Officer Gary Pignato, who was convicted this year of coercing a woman into sex. The complaint says he attributed the information to several Rochester Police Department command officers, including Chief Robert Duffy, now the Rochester mayor, and former deputy chiefs Vincent Faggiano and James Sheppard.
The filing of a false report by a police officer can be the basis of a criminal charge.
Faggiano and Sheppard declined to comment today. Duffy said that he has talked recently with investigators about the Pignato background report. Duffy said he did not provide any information to Trowbridge or Greece police for a check into Pignato’s background in 2002.
“There was no way I would ever give a positive job recommendation (for Pignato),” said Duffy, who noted that Pignato unsuccessfully sued the city in 1997 over his firing from Rochester police.
Prosecutors say Trowbridge admitted falsifying the background report, and said he did so at the direction of now-suspended Police Chief Merritt Rahn.
“We believe he was acting at the direction of someone else,” DA Green said today.
Green said the ongoing investigation into the Greece police continues to grow.
“This investigation unfortunately seems to expand every time we turn a corner,” he said. ” … In my mind, my estimation, it is a large investigation, a very serious investigation.”
The disciplinary charges that led to Trowbridge’s suspension stem from an ongoing internal probe of the Greece Police Department by acting Director of Public Safety Joseph Loszynski.
Loszynski said the investigation does not end with Trowbridge’s arrest.
“This will end when I make the determination there are no more viable leads to follow.”
He said he is looking into any role that Rahn may have played in Pignato’s background check.
Town Supervisor John Auberger said the allegedly falsified report “has had very serious implications” for the town and residents.
“If an accurate background had been provided, Mr. Pignato would not have been hired,” he said.
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