Judge: Ex-Suffolk police honchos retaliated against cop

Lashing out at three former top Suffolk County police officials, a federal judge in Brooklyn has upheld a jury's finding that they retaliated against Officer Thomas Wallace for complaining about the department's handling of a 1998 boat siege that left 11 officers injured.

The jury found last year that former Commissioner John Gallagher, former Deputy Commissioner James Abbott and former Chief of Department Phillip Robilotto harassed Wallace when he threatened to go public with criticism of tactics that ended with a suspect igniting a propane explosion on his boat in Sayville.

Rejecting the county's efforts to reverse the verdict, U.S. District Judge Roslynn Mauskopf upheld a $200,000 award for emotional distress, and - while reducing punitive damages against each defendant from $225,000 to $100,000 - said significant punitive awards were appropriate.

"These defendants, often acting in concert, unlawfully wielded their rank and their considerable authority to retaliate against a vulnerable subordinate who sought to exercise his First Amendment rights to speak out on significant matters of public concern," Mauskopf wrote in a ruling issued Friday.

In the 1998 incident, Richard Hellenschmidt, 45, of Sayville, was being sought by bail agents in relation to an outstanding drunken-driving charge. Police were called when he threatened to blow up his 35-foot boat, moored in Brown's River. Hellenschmidt died in the aftermath of the explosion, which also hurled some police officers boarding the boat into the river.

Wallace, 48, was an Emergency Services Unit officer. He complained after the incident that it revealed problems in training and preparedness and bad tactical decision-making by the brass. He was forced into early retirement in 2004.

Mauskopf's decision left the damages total at $500,000. It is unclear how much of the punitive-damages portion county taxpayers will have to cover on behalf of the defendants. Wallace, who suffered ankle, back and elbow injuries in the explosion, will seek attorneys' fees and compensation for financial losses, his lawyer said.

"We believe this decision should send a message to police departments that they should not be trying to hide their wrongdoings - especially when doing so places the public safety at risk," said the attorney, Rick Ostrove of Carle Place.

Suffolk County Attorney Christine Malafi said Tuesday the county believes "the jury's verdict should be overturned in its entirety, and we are considering an appeal."