Arnold Hardman (above) and George Hesse of the Ocean beach Police Department are on trial for beating up a NJ black man...and giving the department a black eye.
The case that started with a littering ticket and resulted in a police brutality cover-up accusation will finally be heard before a Suffolk County jury, casting light on an ugly side of Fire Island’s top party town in the process.
On a recent cold, rainy Sunday afternoon in Ocean Beach, the streets remained empty as they do for most of the off-season—quite the opposite of the late-night revelry seen on Labor Day weekend more than three years ago, which catapulted the village from secluded resort community into infamy. It was shortly before last call, 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2005, when Samuel Gilberd, 32, of New Jersey, says George Hesse, former chief of the Ocean Beach Police Department (OBPD), stomped and kicked him inside the stationhouse, causing his bladder to rupture. It wasn’t until March of 2007 that prosecutors charged three officers along with Hesse, who faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison on his top charges.
Suffolk District Attorney Tom Spota, who has called the cops involved “thugs,” alleges that Hesse beat an admittedly drunk Gilberd, who kicked the police station door after he initially received a ticket for throwing a beer glass in the street. So vicious was the alleged beating that the victim needed emergency surgery to fix his torn bladder, prosecutors say.
Now that the defense’s pretrial legal maneuvering has concluded, Hesse is preparing to face a jury at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on charges that include first-degree gang assault, while his codefendant, former OBPD officer 
Arnold Hardman, faces charges related to an alleged cover-up. Among the evidence against Hesse—aside from the testimony from Paul Carollo, one of the four officers originally charged in this case—are statements he made to investigators, but the details of those statements will not been released and will not be heard until the trial begins. Hesse’s attorney, William Keahon of Hauppauge, tried unsuccessfully to have those statements thrown out. Meanwhile, the district attorney is appealing a judge’s dismissal of charges against the fourth officer, William Emburey. Assistant District Attorney Robert Biancavilla is trying the case before Acting Supreme Court Justice William Condon.
An officer who answered the phone at the OBPD stationhouse said he has “no comment whatsoever.” Village of Ocean Beach officials confirm that Hesse is still an employee, but would not say if he still on administrative duty with OBPD. Ocean Beach Mayor Joseph Loeffler did not return a call seeking comment.
Hesse, 40, of East Islip, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Sopranos star James Gandolfini, has also been named in three federal lawsuits accusing him of abuses of power, including a civil suit filed by the victim in this case. D. Carl Lustig, Gilberd’s attorney, is seeking $22 million. Lustig also represents Jesse Prisco, who filed suit in August of 2007, claiming that OBPD raided his summer home looking for drugs without a warrant in 2004. Prisco is seeking $20 million and says no drugs were found.
The largest of the three suits, on behalf of five former OBPD officers, claims that there is a long history of police brutality and cover-ups with Hesse. Among the many claims made in that suit are that there was drinking and sex on the job and that Hesse associated with a local drug dealer. In the suit, filed by Manhattan-based law firm Thompson Wigdor & Gilly, the plaintiffs seek $325 million. Spota has said that village officials stuck their heads in the sand and settled prior police brutality claims “quietly and confidentially.” The DA’s government corruption bureau has been investigating these claims as well.
“We are waiting for the criminal trial to be over,” says Doug Wigdor, a partner in the firm suing on behalf of the former officers. He adds that he expects the trial to begin within three to six months. Lustig says he is also awaiting the trail’s conclusion before his two lawsuits can move forward.
Despite the charges in the 16-count indictment, the daunting claims made in the three lawsuits against OBPD—including the one by former members of the department—and the DA’s promise of further investigation, some residents are standing by their men in blue. A fund set up by those in the tight-knit seasonal community to help Hesse and Hardman pay for their defense has collected tens of thousands of dollars at several fundraisers.
Jury selection was still in progress as of press time with opening statements tentatively set for Monday, March 2, although no jurors were chosen on the first day and that date could be pushed back, according to Spota’s spokesman, Robert Clifford.
With the flood of national headlines to come, it seems that despite the enduring winter chill, this tiny seaside village will be ducking the heat well before summer arrives.
