Officer Convicted in Beating Was Handing Off Parking Placard

From the New York Times, via an eagle-eyed Streetsblog tipster:

A police captain who admitted having a forbidden affair with an officer under his command was convicted yesterday of brutally beating her on a Greenwich Village street.

The jury in State Supreme Court in Manhattan found the captain, Alberto Sanchez, guilty of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, after about three hours of deliberation. It acquitted him of a second misdemeanor charge, that of unlawful imprisonment.

He faces up to a year in jail at his sentencing on Oct. 18. For now, he is on modified duty and could face departmental disciplinary charges and possible dismissal, according to a police spokesman.

Prosecutors said that Captain Sanchez, 42, a 15-year veteran of the police force, and his accuser, Officer Sharon Gandarilla, 33, a nine-year veteran, had a sexual affair that was at first consensual but turned abusive.

In the confrontation that led to the trial, Captain Sanchez dragged Officer Gandarilla out of a retirement party at a restaurant on Broadway last Sept. 1, forced her into her car and punched and kicked her, because he thought she had been flirting with another officer, the prosecution said.

Witnesses said that Officer Gandarilla was beaten by the driver of her car, he noted. Captain Sanchez testified that during the party, he took the keys to Officer Gandarilla’s car to get an official parking plaque from her glove compartment for a fellow officer to use, even though they were not on official business.

“At no point did we ever see the keys being returned, so he must have been the driver of the car,” Mr. Schlough said.

Also, he said, Officer Gandarilla must have known her assailant, or she would have cried for help instead of accepting the beating, as witnesses described.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Chinatown Placard Abusers Get the Hook

|
It looks like 5th Precinct Commanding Officer Gin Yee, the Sheriff of Chinatown, is laying down the law once again. A Streetsblog tipster spotted these tow trucks as they were removing government placard abusers from their illegal parking spots in Chinatown. While it’s refreshing to see the police "towing their own," the tipster notes that […]

New Sheriff in Chinatown

|
The Fifth Precinct in Lower Manhattan has a new commanding officer, a local boy, Dep. Inspector Gin Yee, and he’s not afraid to tow some cars, even if they belong to his co-workers. In fact, he’s already towed 15 cars, 12 of which belonged to NYPD officers. Downtown Express reports: David Eng, who co-owns Fong […]

The $46 Million Parking Perk

|
The police tow one of their own in Chinatown on May 10, 2006. Community and business groups say that much of Lower Manhattan has become a free parking lot for government employees’ personal vehicles. (Photo: Geoff Lee) Illegally parked government employees are subtracting $46 million a year in potential parking fees from New York City’s coffers, according to […]