An off-duty state trooper is being questioned in connection with an incident at a Congers pizzeria on the night before Halloween that sent a 15-year-old to the hospital with a concussion, Clarkstown police said yesterday.

No charges have been filed and no one had been arrested as of last night, Clarkstown Sgt. Harry Baumann said.
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He confirmed that police are interviewing Eric Suarez, a state trooper, in connection with the incident, which occurred in the parking lot of Nicky's II pizzeria on Lake Road.

"We'll have to see how this investigation plays out," Baumann said, adding that they were continuing to conduct interviews into the evening yesterday.

Witnesses told The Journal News late Thursday that a man stopped his black Hummer in the parking lot as five boys left the pizzeria and accused them of throwing eggs at his house.

"He was screaming at us," said Ryan Cangro, 15, one of the boys at the scene.

The man slapped a piece of pizza out of the hands of one of the boys, he said.

When 15-year-old Joe Buto tried to defend his friend, the man punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious, Cangro said. Buto was treated at Nyack Hospital for a concussion and a swollen lip.

But Suarez's wife, Nancy, said Suarez was acting in self-defense. When her husband stopped by the pizzeria to question the boys, they threw pizza at him, she said last night.

"It was a very scary night," she said. "He was defending himself."

Shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday, she explained, a group of eight or nine boys dressed in black hooded sweatshirts threw eggs and rocks at their home. One of the rocks hit an upstairs window, causing it to shatter, she said.

"I was upstairs getting diapers for my newborn baby, and I heard glass shatter," she said outside her home last night. "I saw them egg the house across the street, too."

Although she saw the group of boys, Nancy Suarez said she didn't get a look at any of their faces. Her home is less than a half-mile from the pizzeria.

In the emergency room Thursday night, Buto, of Congers, said the last thing he remembered was hitting the pavement.

"I blacked out, and I remember waking up and screaming 'My head hurts,' " said Buto, who was in a wheelchair after being treated.

His mother, Joan Buto, said she was equal parts angry and terrified.

"Nothing gives this guy license to go around punching kids," she said at the hospital Thursday night. "Kids look up to people like that."

She was at home when her son called from his cell phone saying he'd been hit, she recalled.

"I drove down there shaking," Joan Buto said. "When I got there he was bleeding from his mouth."

State police Sgt. John Maasz with Troop T in Tarrytown said that Suarez was not scheduled to work yesterday. He had no information about the incident.

Another officer, Sgt. Terry Holmes of the state police, said he wasn't aware of any investigation his department was launching involving Suarez.
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081101/NEWS03/811010371

I'm... not quite sure how I feel about this. For one, we don't know who's telling the truth. If it was self defense and he went there to question the kids about egging his house, then that kid deserved it. However, police officers are expected to be able to handle these kinds of situations better than he did.

Nothing is better than punching someone in the head.

That Trooper fails if he seriously thought he was in danger from a bunch of teenagers who were throwing Pizza at him IF they were.

The teenagers were actually quite small except the one he punched wuz a lil chubby.

Oh... nevermind then. He just got pissed off about his house and started kickin ass and taking names.

Now the kids may be facing criminal charges of endangering the welfare of a child because the trooper later stated that they threw a rock and a golf ball at his house that broke his infant baby's window. And while the kids probably did egg his house, there was no rock or golf ball thrown because he only said that when confronted by the police, not while he was yelling at the kids. While he was yelling he only mentioned the egg(s).

the cop should know better. there was no way he could have been sure if it was them, and the fact that he went looking for them isnt a good thing either. what if he would have had a gun and shot one of them.

And what is making people really crazy is that the trooper still hasn't been arrested.

I mean, I understand WHY he flipped, but he should have handled it better.

the cop should know better. there was no way he could have been sure if it was them, and the fact that he went looking for them isnt a good thing either. what if he would have had a gun and shot one of them.

I agree, I think people seem to overlooking the fact that these children may in fact be innocent of any crime. I think the police officer should get the book thrown at him. He clearly doesn't understand how to do his job and or what the police do. He could have questioned that's about it. If they were throwing pizza and whatever or not cooperating in anyway he should have just left. The truth is he should have called the police. This is a personal matter and he shouldn't be apart of the investigations other then being a witness.

And the local police department screwed up big time with this whole investigation. The police officer who responded to the all about the teen being KO'd never called an ambulance. One of the kids friends had to actually call an ambulance while the cop was there. And there is security footage that so conveniently went blank during the incident. All you see is the trooper pulling up, the screen goes black, then you see the trooper pulling away. And right now they are still "investigating" whether or not the trooper committed a crime. Oh, and the trooper's cousin is in the local PD.

Ugh, I hate you guys.

It doesn't matter if a 110 year old lady or an 8 year old kid are attacking you and you're fucking lady justice, you can punch them in the face without breaking any law so long as you have good reason to assume they are a legitimate threat. So if he was defending himself then he didn't do anything illegal, meaning he didn't do anything wrong.

The article has two sides of a story. There's no way to determine who's in the wrong without knowing what actually happened.

Well I kind of know what happened because I live in the town it occured in and I'm friends with all of the kids. Don't get me wrong the kids are assholes and probably did egg his house, but they did not attack him or throw the pizza at him. In fact, the guy isn't the one who said they threw the pizza. His wife said that the kids must have thrown the pizza for her husband to get like that. And Miburo, you're 100% right, if it is self defense almost anything goes, but in this case it was just some guy who lost his cool.

You know, kids tend to lie about shit to keep out of trouble. You don't know if they actually threw the eggs and shit, but you obviously suspect that they did. I'm guessing they didn't tell you that though, amirite? What makes you think they're telling the truth about the rest of that shit? Know where I'm coming from here? Especially since assaulting a police officer is a much more serious offense than anything involving the egging incident. I'd lie my ass off about that shit too.

Also, the officer seems like he knows his shit, legality wise. Probably why he didn't make any public comments. Which is why the media spoke with his wife instead. Her response suggests that she wasn't coached by her husband (Since he'd tell her to not make any comments, most likely), but it seems more like she was just saying what she was told by him. Not saying he was truthful with his wife and that's really how it happened, but that is how it seems like to me. Her comments definitely don't seem like she was making assumptions about what happened, like you're suggesting.

Going by that, and by what the article says about him "defending his friend," I'd say it's probable that the boy put his hands on the officer in some way that would allow him to attack in self-defense. Again, I'm not saying that the officer wasn't pissed as shit, and I would bet that he may have even egged them on, but going by what you presented I doubt he did anything actually illegal. Or, at the very least, nothing that anyone can actually prove.

Which just leaves the question of morality, and I'd say punching some pussy shit in the lip for throwing shit at people's houses is okay in my book. So, seriously, fuck those kids. They're pussies and they deserve it. The cop is just going to get a slap on the wrist, at the very worst. I'd bet anything that he won't get in any real trouble (Just as things should be). Just watch.

^^ I agree with everything you say there, just because it says he was defending his friend doesn't mean he went into it as the pacifist, he might of thought he was a hero and pushed the cop back or something being 15 and not thinking about consequences...

but the cop is an adult and he should know better. who punches a kid in the face, he must be a big man to do that.

Some times kids just need a good flogging just to bring them back down to reality, you get 15 year old kids who think they're jack the lad going round mouthin off to people commiting crimes all cuz they are worried bout their rep or they think its cool, i'd be extremely pissed if kids threw rocks through my window and i had a newborn in the house they go round with out no consideration for people and one good hit will bring them back down to earth and make them realise they ain't untouchable

Or the kid should know better than to pick fights with people that can knock him the fuck out. Goes both ways. A 15 year old is more than old enough to know that he shouldn't be vandalizing houses and (possibly) assaulting people. Don't do things to piss people off if you can't handle the consequences. It's not rocket science.