Officer Clifton Gauthier Charged with Misconduct

Township Police Officer Clifton “Clif” Gauthier has been charged with official misconduct and other crimes for allegedly trying to get a relative’s driving while intoxicated ticket dismissed in 2012.

Gauthier, 34, of Sparta, was charged Monday by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office with official misconduct, obstruction, witness tampering and hindering prosecution of another, according to court records. Gauthier was hired in the township in July 2005 and, though now suspended, was earning $108,525 annually.

Township officials would not immediately specify whether Gauthier was suspended with or without pay. Neither Gauthier nor defense lawyer Scott Krasny could immediately be reached Friday.

A male relative of Gauthier was ticketed for DWI in Rockaway Township by a state trooper identified only as N.S. Gauthier allegedly contacted the trooper on Feb. 9, 2012, and “suggested” he didn’t need to appear in township Municipal Court for trial because the charge was resolved, according to court records and officials.

Denis Driscoll, who was municipal prosecutor at the time, contacted the trooper, who stated he was told not to appear, and the investigation commenced, according to officials.

Township Mayor Michael Dachisen said that Gauthier is a good officer who served several military tours in Iraq. He said the relative who Gauthier allegedly tried to assist is either a cousin or an uncle. He declined further comment.

Police Chief Walter Ardin Jr. could not be reached. Gauthier is due to appear next week in Superior Court to receive initial discovery on the charges. They allege that he committed an act that constituted an unauthorized exercise of his position by suggesting to the trooper that he not appear on the scheduled court date so he could try to help a relative obtain a dismissal of the charge.

The most serious offense of official misconduct is a second-degree crime punishable upon conviction by up to 10 years in prison and automatic forfeiture of a public job and future public employment.

Officer William Ruscoe Arrested for Sexual Assault

A veteran Trumbull Police officer was arrested Monday night by Connecticut State Police in Bridgeport on sexual assault charges.

Details of the assault are not clear, but William Ruscoe, 44, was charged with second-degree sex assault, third-degree sex assault and fourth-degree sex assault, as well as tampering with a witness.

Multiple reports says he’s a 20-year veteran and sexually assaulted a member of the police department’s explorer program, where he served as an adviser for several years.

Cash bond was set at $50,000 and he’s due in Bridgeport Superior Court either Feb. 25 or March 5.

Officer Steven Solari Charged with Hitting Handcuffed Suspect

A Little Silver police officer has been charged with hitting a handcuffed suspect and trying to get a witness to the incident to lie to investigators, authorities said today.

Patrolman Steven Solari, an 11-year veteran of the department, was charged Thursday with two counts of official misconduct and one count each of aggravated assault, tampering with a witness, obstruction of justice and hindering his own apprehension, Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin said.

Valentin said Solari, 36, is accused of hitting a suspect several times at police headquarters on Dec. 20 while the man had his hands cuffed behind his back.

Solari and another Little Silver police officer arrested the man after responding to a call at an undisclosed private residence. During the call, Valentin said, Solari and the man got into a struggle. The man was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

At headquarters, Solari allegedly struck the handcuffed man several times, causing his head to hit a metal filing cabinet. The man, whose identity was not released, was treated at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, the prosecutor said.

Two days after the alleged incident, Soliar, dressed in his full uniform and on duty, approached one of the witnesses to the attack in an attempt to convince the witness to lie or withhold the truth from investigators, Valentin said. He would not say whether the witness was another police officer.

Solari is suspended without pay. He was released from the Monmouth County jail in Freehold today after posting $81,000 bail.

If convicted of the most serious charges, Solari could face up to 20 years in prison and would be permanently barred from holding any public job in New Jersey.

Former Officer Marcus Tafoya Accused of Trying to Intimidate Witnesses

A former Fresno police officer on trial for accusations of using excessive force faces new allegations of witness tampering.

During a special hearing Thursday in Fresno County Superior Court called to investigate the allegations, prosecutor Blake Gunderson accused Marcus Tafoya of trying to intimidate witnesses.

A police officer called to testify at the hearing broke down on the stand and exercised his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. Judge John Vogt ordered a police cell phone be turned over to the District Attorney's Office before ending the surprising day in court. No jury was present.

Tafoya, 39, went on trial Nov. 17 on eight felony counts of excessive force at a welcome-home party for a soldier returning from Iraq in March 2005. Tafoya has pleaded not guilty. The trial is scheduled to resume Monday.

Gunderson alleges that Tafoya wanted a fellow police officer to appear in the courtroom audience when officer Steve Gonzales testified Dec. 17.

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Gonzales was back in court Thursday for the special hearing. He said that after he testified at Tafoya's trial, he returned to a police substation to go off duty.

Gonzales said while he was at the substation, Sgt. Cary Weigant pulled him aside and confided in him: Another officer, Sgt. Dave Madrigal, wanted Weigant to be in the courtroom during Tafoya's trial. Gonzales said he thought the purpose was to interfere with the trial.

"I had a nauseous feeling in my stomach," Gonzales said. "I didn't know if they were trying to intimidate by putting Weigant and Madrigal in the audience.

"I felt someone was trying to underhand the investigation."

Gonzales said he then contacted the District Attorney's Office.

Madrigal, who was subpoenaed to appear at Thursday's hearing, broke down in tears when Gunderson asked him whether he knew prosecutors had been trying to reach him since Dec. 18.

Superior Court Judge John Vogt called a recess to allow Madrigal to compose himself. When testimony resumed, Madrigal asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, declining to answer Gunderson's questions. Vogt then excused him from the hearing.

Vogt ordered Madrigal's cell phone be turned over to the District Attorney's Office. Specifically, prosecutors want to examine calls and text messages between Madrigal and Tafoya and between Madrigal and Weigant. The cell phone was given to prosecutors Thursday.

Tafoya was fired from the Fresno Police Department in July 2007.

During his trial, jurors heard from partygoers who said Tafoya struck them with a police baton for no reason. Several police officers have given testimony that supported Tafoya, including Sgt. Michael Manfredi, who last week said that Tafoya made the right call to order another officer to shoot partygoers with bean bags.

Manfredi rebutted another officer who testified that he was shocked to hear Tafoya tell him to start shooting defenseless partygoers with bean bags. The officer refused to do it.

And earlier in the trial, a former Fresno police officer who now works for the Santa Maria Police Department testified that Tafoya slugged a partygoer for no apparent reason.

The city of Fresno agreed in 2006 to pay $1.6 million to settle an excessive-force case stemming from the party. Tafoya, Manfredi, the city of Fresno and Police Chief Jerry Dyer are defendants in a related civil-rights trial pending in Fresno federal court.

3rd Arrest for Officer Jason Rozacky

A San Antonio police officer has resigned after his third arrest.

Jason Rozacky, 36, has been under investigation since his ex-girlfriend's apartment was broken into and she was assaulted. The 14-year officer resigned Tuesday and remained in the Bexar County Jail on Thursday.

Mike Helle, president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association, emphasized Rozacky is innocent until proven guilty.

Rozacky was charged with burglary and intent to commit assault Aug. 26 after the break-in and assault. He was arrested about a month later on a charge of tampering with a witness. His latest arrest was for allegedly making repeated phone calls to the ex-girlfriend.

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If he's doing this to the people he loves....How is he treating the public he has to deal with on a daily basis?

Trial Begins for Former Officer Malik Snell Accused of Robbery

He drove a Dodge Intrepid tricked out like a police narcotics unit undercover car, with tinted windows, lights, sirens, a police radio console, and a screen that separated the front and back seats.

He had his gun.

And, more important, he had his badge.

Those, federal prosecutors say, were the tools of the trade for rogue Philadelphia cop Malik Snell as he targeted suspected narcotics dealers, pulled them over, and stole their cash or their drugs.

Snell, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, robbery, and witness retaliation, is to go on trial today in U.S. District Court. In October, a trial on some of the charges ended with a hung jury.

An 11-year veteran of the Police Department who was assigned to the 18th District in West Philadelphia, Snell, 36, was fired last year after his arrest in a Pottstown home-invasion case. Two superseding federal indictments have expanded the charges against him.

Among other things, he is now accused of robbing one of the biggest drug kingpins in South Philadelphia and later threatening to kill him because he was cooperating.

The kingpin, Ricardo McKendrick Jr., is expected to be called as a witness for the prosecution.

McKendrick, according to motions filed in the case, has alleged that he was stopped by Snell on Dec. 14, 2007, near Water and Dickinson Streets in South Philadelphia.

Snell, driving the Dodge Intrepid, flashed the car's lights and signaled for McKendrick, who was driving a minivan, to pull over.

Federal prosecutors allege that Snell "removed him from the [minivan] and placed him in handcuffs. . . . Snell then searched the [minivan] and took a diaper bag from the back of the van which contained $40,000 in drug proceeds.

"He put the diaper bag in the trunk of the Intrepid and left [McKendrick] handcuffed and unable to leave," according to a motion filed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathy A. Stark and Leo R. Tsao, the prosecutors in the case.

Snell was arrested three days later in connection with an unrelated home invasion in Pottstown. Two men, including his brother-in-law, were charged with breaking into a house where they believed drug money was stashed.

Authorities allege that Snell drove the men to Pottstown and waited outside during the break-in. He and his brother-in-law were arrested after a high-speed police chase, just outside the Montgomery County borough.

Both the brother-in-law, Tyree Aimes, and a second defendant pleaded guilty before trial. Snell's trial ended with a hung jury.

Federal prosecutors, apparently using information supplied by McKendrick and others, have since expanded the charges against Snell. He is being held without bail in the Federal Detention Center on Arch Street.

In the new trial, prosecutors hope to use Aimes' account of other incidents to undermine Snell's assertion that he was an unwitting accomplice, unaware that a robbery was planned on the night of the home invasion.

Snell's attorney, John McMahon of Norristown, has declined to comment about specifics of the case. He is expected to attack the credibility of several government witnesses who come from the drug underworld.

Aimes, according to one prosecution document, has talked about other encounters in which, he says, Snell targeted drug dealers.

Aimes has said that before the Pottstown home invasion, Snell used him to stake out two houses in Philadelphia where narcotics trafficking was allegedly taking place.

After showing him the Intrepid, which Snell allegedly said came from "a friend in the narcotics unit," Aimes said, Snell told him, "I have a job to do" at one of the suspected drug houses.

One house was off the corner of D Street and Allegheny Avenue, and the other was on Callowhill Street between 63d and 64th Streets, according to documents.

Aimes said Snell told him the house on Callowhill was frequently used by a Jamaican marijuana dealer. Aimes said he was watching when Snell, driving the Intrepid, pulled over a woman who had come from the house carrying a bag. The woman was driving a Chevy Malibu, he said.

"Snell pulled the Intrepid out behind her, activated the police lights and pulled the Malibu over," according to a prosecution motion that outlines Aimes' account.

About two hours later, Aimes said, Snell came to his home and gave him a pound of marijuana.

"He told him he had gotten ten pounds of weed from the car stop," according to the motion.

Aimes told authorities that he staked out the house off Allegheny Avenue several times for Snell, but that nothing occurred there.

About the same time, Aimes said, he learned about drug money being stashed in a house in Pottstown and told Snell he "had a job" there.

Snell, he said, agreed to participate.

The Callowhill Street incident is not part of the current indictment, but prosecutors hope to use testimony about it to establish a pattern of criminal activity by Snell.

The charges in the case include the Pottstown home invasion, the robbery of $40,000 from McKendrick, and allegations that Snell later threatened to kill McKendrick and another suspected witness.

McKendrick's father, Ricardo McKendrick Sr., is a former member of the Black Mafia and a longtime Philadelphia drug trafficker, according to investigators who have described the duo as "suppliers to the suppliers" and key players in the Philadelphia drug underworld.

The McKendricks were arrested in April after members of an FBI-Philadelphia Police Department Violent Gang and Drug Task Force raided their South Philadelphia rowhouse.

Authorities found more than 600 pounds of cocaine valued at more than $28 million in the house, in Grays Ferry. It was one of the biggest drug seizures in city history.

The FBI also found nearly $1 million in cash in the trunk of the younger McKendrick's Mercedes, which was parked in the garage of his South Jersey home.

Both McKendricks entered guilty pleas to drug charges in December. Most of the documents in the younger McKendrick's court file relating to his plea have been placed under seal.

McKendrick's decision to cooperate could have ramifications far beyond the current case against Snell. McKendrick's potential debut as a government witness has created a stir in both law enforcement and underworld circles.

Snell allegedly made the threat to "inflict bodily harm" on McKendrick on Jan. 30, shortly after news accounts raised the possibility that he might be cooperating.

Sgt William Edwards Arrested on Sexual Charges Against Boy

NEW LONDON, Conn.

New London's police chief says he has fired a sergeant arrested in January on sexual assault charges involving a boy.

The chief says William Edwards, who had been suspended without pay since his arrest, was notified in person late Monday afternoon.

Edwards is accused of sexually assaulting a boy who told authorities he had four or five encounters with the officer when he was between 5 and 7 years old.

The chief says that Edwards was brought up on charges of violating the department's rules and regulations, such as alleged drug use, untruthfulness and conduct unbecoming an officer.

Edwards is charged with third-degree sexual assault, unlawful restraint, tampering with a witness and two counts of risk of injury to a minor.

Prosecutors have moved his case to Windham County.

Information from: The Day, http://www.theday.com

Officer William Edwards Sr Charged with Sexual Assault of Child

New London Community Police Officer William R. Edwards Sr. appeared in Norwich Superior Court this morning on charges related to the sexual assault of a child.

Edwards, 45, has been charged with third-degree sexual assault, second-degree unlawful restraint, tampering with a witness and two counts of risk of injury to a minor. He was arrested this morning by state police at Troop E in Montville.

New London Police Chief Bruce Rinehart suspended Edwards without pay following Edwards' arrest.

The suspension was effective immediately, said Rinehart, and will be in effect pending the outcome of the court case. Rinehart had been unable to suspend Edwards until his arrest because Edwards had been hospitalized since early December.

The chief and New London Police Capt. Margaret Ackley met Edwards at Troop E where state police processed him.

“It's an unfortunate thing,'' Rinehart said. “Law enforcement is one big family and when these things happen to our brothers and sisters, these things affect us all.''

He said the department is also conducting an internal investigation into the allegations.

Edwards was accompanied in court by his attorney, Paul Guernsey, and by his brother, Kenneth Edwards, a former New London police officer. He posted $100,000 bond.

Judge Barbara Jongbloed issued a full protective order forbidding William Edwards from having any contact with the victim and added the condition that he cooperate with the Institute of the Living, a psychiatric institution in Hartford, where he had been hospitalized since early December.

His case has been transferred to Danielson Superior Court and his next appearance is scheduled for Feb. 11

Jury Acquitted Former Sheriff Michael Carona of Bribery Charges

A jury acquitted former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona of charges that he took bribes in exchange for the power of his office, a verdict that stunned the courtroom and was hailed by the elated defendant as "an absolute miracle." Carona was convicted of one witness-tampering count, but the jury rejected the heart of a case that federal prosecutors spent five years assembling against the former head of the nation's fifth-largest sheriff's department.

He had been accused of doing favors for a multimillionaire businessman and appointing him assistant sheriff in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts. Several jurors said they believed Carona was involved in misconduct but that the government hadn't proven its case.

Carona, 53, began shaking as the verdicts were being read in U.S. District Court, then put his head down on the counsel table and sobbed loudly.

In the gallery, his wife, Deborah, and friends gasped. "Oh my God!" blurted his wife, who, along with her husband's ex-mistress, faces related charges.

The conspiracy charge alone alleged 64 overt criminal acts. Although the statute of limitations expired on most of those acts, the jury only had to find one of the remaining acts true for a conspiracy conviction.

"If you all don't believe in miracles, if you don't believe in God, what you just witnessed was an absolute miracle and God is watching over me," Carona said later. "Based on what you heard in this trial, some of the salacious stuff, there's a lot of things I need to apologize for in my life. I've made some mistakes along the way. The good news is God forgives people and apparently I'm one of the people he forgave."

If convicted of all counts, Carona could have spent the rest of his life in prison. Instead, he faces up to 20 years, but is likely to get only two or three, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Julian. The defense said probation is possible.

Several jurors said they believe the allegations against Carona but could not find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt because they considered businessman Don Haidl - the government's chief witness and the sheriff's alleged benefactor - to be untrustworthy. They also wanted to hear from another witness who was said to be the conduit for payments to the sheriff but was not called by the government.

"In my mind there's no doubt that he did what he did, but we have to go by what the law said," juror Jim Ybarra said. "They were obviously in some kind of cahoots and everybody felt that."

The jury, which had deliberated since Jan. 8 after a 10-week trial, found Carona not guilty of one count of conspiracy, three counts of mail fraud and one count of witness tampering.

His lone witness-tampering conviction involved a secretly recorded conversation in which he attempted to persuade Haidl to match their stories in front of the grand jury. Haidl, who was named as an unindicted coconspirator in the case, reached a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for his cooperation.

Defense attorney Jeff Rawitz said he will appeal the conviction and has filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the entire case on grounds of egregious grand jury conduct.

Prosecutor Julian said he was disappointed at the outcome but was pleased by jurors' comments.

"What I heard from the jurors was they thought the charged conduct had occurred but the indictment was brought too late and they had to follow the law, and we'll respect that," he said.

The judge said Carona could be released on bond, with restrictions against travel.

Carona, once dubbed "America's sheriff" by CNN's Larry King for helping put away a child murderer, was indicted in October 2007 and retired three months later.

The government charged in 1998, the year he was first elected, Carona solicited Haidl's help to launder at least $30,000 in campaign contributions.

Once elected, Carona rewarded Haidl with the post of assistant sheriff, prosecutors said. Haidl received a car, a gun, a badge, a "get-out-of-jail-free" card, and control over a new reserve deputy program that allowed him to hand out law enforcement badges to his friends, relatives and associates, the government said.

Haidl continued to bribe Carona once in office by paying him $1,000 a month, paying for luxurious trips and tailored suits, lending Carona his yacht and private jet and bailing out Carona's mistress and her foundering law firm with a questionable bridge loan, the government said.

The prosecution contended that Haidl's gifts to Carona exceeded $430,000 over several years.

Haidl eventually became a government informant, along with another former assistant sheriff and Carona's one-time campaign manager, George Jaramillo. Both men reached plea deals with prosecutors.

Haidl wore a wire to three meetings with Carona in summer 2007, producing hours of profanity-laced audio tapes that were repeatedly played at trial. Haidl spent 10 days on the witness stand but Jaramillo did not testify.

Ybarra, the juror, said putting Jaramillo on the stand "would have made a huge difference" because Haidl testified he funneled all payments to Carona through Jaramillo.

Haidl continued to bribe Carona once in office by paying him $1,000 a month, paying for luxurious trips and tailored suits, lending Carona his yacht and private jet and bailing out Carona's mistress and her foundering law firm with a questionable bridge loan, the government said.

The prosecution contended that Haidl's gifts to Carona exceeded $430,000 over several years.

Haidl eventually became a government informant, along with another former assistant sheriff and Carona's one-time campaign manager, George Jaramillo. Both men reached plea deals with prosecutors.

Haidl wore a wire to three meetings with Carona in summer 2007, producing hours of profanity-laced audio tapes that were repeatedly played at trial. Haidl spent 10 days on the witness stand but Jaramillo did not testify.

Ybarra, the juror, said putting Jaramillo on the stand "would have made a huge difference" because Haidl testified he funneled all payments to Carona through Jaramillo.

Julian said the decision not to call Jaramillo as a witness was a strategic one.

Jaramillo, like Haidl a former assistant sheriff, was listed as an unindicted coconspirator in Carona's indictment and was fired by Carona in 2004 for misconduct. He reached a plea deal in the current federal case and has also served time in state prison for unrelated felony charges.

Ybarra said the jury also was frustrated that the statute of limitations left only five acts to consider for a conspiracy. Three other acts fingered other members of the alleged conspiracy.

"If they had issued that indictment in June that would have brought in about 30 other overt acts and we could have been able to find him guilty," said Ybarra, 54, a teacher from Garden Grove.

Carona's former mistress, Debra Hoffman, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and bankruptcy fraud. His wife is charged with a single count of conspiracy.

The women are facing trial together, but Julian said the government was reviewing what to do with the two remaining defendan

Officer William Edwards Sr Charged with Sexual Assault Against Minor

New London

State police have obtained an arrest warrant charging William R. Edwards Sr., a well-known city patrolman, with sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.

Edwards, 45, has been hospitalized under psychiatric care for several days, preventing state police from serving a warrant that charges him with risk of injury to a minor, third-degree sexual assault, unlawful restraint and tampering with a witness, according to several law enforcement sources. Details of the alleged crimes are not available.

Over the weekend, New London City Manager Martin Berliner sent an e-mail to members of the City Council to inform them of the pending charges. Berliner wrote that police Chief Bruce F. Rinehart informed him on Dec. 4 that state police were investigating Edwards for an off-duty incident. The city manager said he did not plan to tell the councilors until Edwards was arrested “in fairness to Officer Edwards.”

”Unfortunately, since the process has taken so long, you may have heard about this situation from someone else. For that I am sorry,” Berliner wrote. “At this point, a signed arrest warrant is on file with state police. You will be informed when the warrant is executed.”

Rinehart said Edwards requested and is currently on paid leave. He said he could not comment on the allegations since the investigation is ongoing.

Edwards is a 20-year veteran of the police department who serves as the city's crime prevention officer, working with various groups of city residents, including children, the elderly, neighborhood watch groups and business owners. His family is well known in New London, where Edwards' father, Kenneth W. Edwards Sr., is a retired deputy fire chief, and his brother, Kenneth W. Edwards Jr., is a retired police captain.

Members of the police union discussed the situation at a meeting on Tuesday so officers would be aware of Edwards' impending arrest and be prepared to respond to any backlash they might hear during the course of their duties in the community, according to a police source.

Edwards is the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and was in charge of its finances, according to a source, who said a committee of patrolmen are checking the PBA's finances. He is also a past president of the New London Rotary Club.

Edwards is married and has two children. Court records indicate that Deutsche Bank foreclosed on the family home at 68 Cedar Grove Ave. in July and that the bank repossessed the home.

The New London Police Department and the county's state's attorneys have not been involved in the investigation. To avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, state police detectives at Troop E investigated the allegations involving Edwards and presented a warrant affidavit to be signed by officials in Windham County.