Two cops accused of using excessive force reject plea deal, trial date set
PATERSON — Two city police officers charged with using excessive force in a video-recorded South Paterson incident decided on Tuesday to reject plea agreements in the United States attorney’s criminal case against them.
The accused cops, Kevin Patino and Kendry Tineo-Restituyo, told a federal judge that they had discussed the plea bargains with their lawyers and would not accept them. As a result, U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas scheduled their trial to start on Sept. 19.
Neither the U.S. Attorney’s Office nor the two defense lawyers would reveal the details of the rejected plea deals. Patino’s lawyer, Todd Spodek, and Tineo-Restituyo’s attorney, Michael Koribanics, declined to say why their clients opted not to accept the pleas.
Patino and Tineo-Restituyo last year were indicted on charges that they violated the civil rights of a young man they confronted while he was walking with his hands in his pockets on Madison Avenue shortly after midnight on Dec. 14, 2020.
Federal authorities cited as evidence a video recording that showed the officers striking the man numerous times in the face and body and continuing to hit him after he was on the ground. The cops also were accused of filing a false police report, allegedly to cover up their wrongdoing.
The alleged victim, Osamah Alsaidi, who was 19 at the time of the incident, has said he filed an Internal Affairs complaint with the Paterson Police Department, but that no one ever investigated his claims. The incident first came to light in February 2021 after the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement condemning the cops and making public the video recording.
The video showed Patino inflicting most of the blows, while Tineo-Restituyo wrestled Alsaidi to the ground. Federal authorities initially indicted only Patino, then got a new indictment to include Tineo-Restituyo.
The two cops’ rejection of the plea agreements seemed to contradict a court memo filed earlier this month. The memo said Patino would be going to trial but Tineo-Restituyo might resolve the charges against him without a trial.
Patrick Caserta, another lawyer representing Tineo-Restituyo, acknowledged on Tuesday the possibility of a deal. “We’re still having discussions to try to work it out,” Caserta said. “I’m hopeful.”
Alsaidi filed a federal lawsuit against the city last December. Two other people also filed civil rights lawsuits, accusing Patino and Tineo-Restituyo of using excessive force — one suit against each cop — involving incidents that happened within a few weeks of the Alsaidi case.
Garfield resident Desyiah Leak has said Tineo-Restituyo punched her in the face during a traffic stop in Paterson on Dec. 6, 2020, and Rosdward Hernandez accused Patino of beating him when he tried to intervene on behalf of an emotionally disturbed person on Main Street on Nov. 26, 2020.
The Leak and Hernandez cases did not result in any criminal charges.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ police misconduct trial set after cops reject plea deal
