Bayonne cop 'whacked' handcuffed man's face, knocked out 6 teeth, U.S. Attorney says
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2016/02/post_806.html?hootPostID=4e6ef128f61855a41755c82bd c41e260
The Bayonne police officer who pleaded guilty to hitting a handcuffed man in the face with a flashlight struck the prisoner so hard that he knocked out six teeth, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said on Saturday.
In a 10-minute speech in front of roughly 85 people at a community policing forum in Jersey City, Fishman cited the prosecution of the officer, Domenico Lillo, as one way federal law enforcement is working to improve community/police relations in the state.
In doing so, Fishman confirmed a detail mentioned in an ongoing lawsuit against the officer.
"My office just prosecuted a few months ago a cop named (Domenico) Lillo who's from Bayonne, just down Kennedy Boulevard, who had a prisoner who was handcuffed, not resisting, and whacked him in the face with a flashlight, knocking out six teeth," Fishman said.
Previously, federal authorities described what Lillo did in tamer terms, saying he struck the man "in the head with a flashlight while the individual was handcuffed and not resisting arrest, which resulted in bodily injury."
According to a lawsuit filed against Lillo before he was charged federally, Lillo struck Bayonne resident Brandon Walsh so hard that Walsh experienced "permanent injury and disfigurement," including losing almost all of his front teeth.
In response to the lawsuit, Lillo's attorney said his client only admitted to using excessive force to the degree to which he pleaded guilty to in the criminal case.
"Admitted only that Mr. Lillo's one-time contacting of Brandon Walsh with the flashlight constituted excessive force to the extent it is coextensive with the guilty plea entered in the parallel criminal matter," Lillo's attorney, Roshan D. Shah, wrote.
Attorneys in the police brutality lawsuit, which was filed by the Walsh family against Lillo and two other city police officers, are arguing over whether the case should be put on pause in light of Lillo pleading guilty to federal charges.
The suit claims city officers James Wade and Francis Styles "stood by and did nothing" while Lillo struck Walsh, an allegation that Wade and Styles have both denied.
An attorney representing the city of Bayonne and the Bayonne Police Department has said Lillo's recent guilty plea "begs the question" of whether Wade and Styles are under criminal investigation by federal authorities, and whether Lillo is cooperating with authorities as part of his guilty plea.
As such, the attorney said, the defendants are requesting holding off on the discovery phase until "the resolution of all ongoing or pending criminal investigations."
In an unrelated case, Lillo also pleaded guilty in September to illegally obtaining a $20,000 loan intended for low- to moderate-income residents. His wife, Rose Lillo, was also charged and is negotiating a plea agreement, according to court documents.