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| NEWS > 06 December 2005 |
Other related articles:
New Orleans police indicted in
A deadly gunfight on a bridge in the anarchy-filled days following Hurricane Katrina became a symbol of the city's loss of control.
Now, more than a year later, seven police officers face charges in the shootings.
A grand jury indicted the officers on murder or attempted murder charges Thursday in the September 4, 2005, deaths of two men and wounding of four other people on the Danziger Bridge.
One of the victims was a mentally retarded man, Ronald Madison, who had been shot seven times -- five times in the back, according to the coroner.
"We canno... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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Louisville Courier-Journal - L
06 December 2005
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Pleading guilty yesterday in J
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Fired Louisville officers plea
given probation in 2003 beating; victim forgives, admits some fault
By Jessie Halladay
jhalladay@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Four former Louisville Metro Police officers — fired after being accused of beating a Paducah man during an arrest in 2003 — pleaded guilty yesterday to assault.
Garry Sapp, Donald Gillenwater, Chad Kaufman and Aaron Shepherd each were sentenced to five years of probation after admitting in court that they assaulted Erik Wolfe during his arrest on Aug. 15, 2003.
Sapp and Shepherd also pleaded guilty to two counts each of tampering with physical evidence, admitting that they made false reports about what happened the night Wolfe was arrested.
None of the former officers or their attorneys commented on the guilty pleas after the hearing yesterday before Jefferson Circuit Judge Ann O'Malley Shake.
Though the men will not serve any prison time, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney John Balliet said he was pleased with the agreement -- all four will be considered felons, which prevents them from carrying firearms. Each also was fined $1,000.
"Not everyone who commits a felony gets prison time," Balliet said. "I'm particularly pleased that these four men will not be police officers anymore."
Wolfe attended the hearing and spoke before sentencing, thanking police Chief Robert White and police investigators for moving forward with their investigation of the incident.
Looking over at the former officers, Wolfe said that he believed their actions were "cowardice and weak," but that he was moving on and had forgiven them.
Several police officers attended the hearing, including Bill Keeling, newly elected union president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, and Maj. Tim Emington, who leads the public integrity and professional standards units that investigated the case.
"This is a sad day for our department," Emington said. "But the community can rest assured that the police department's going to do the right thing no matter what the consequences."
Keeling declined to comment.
White fired the four officers in February, saying the force they used was "unnecessary, unprovoked, excessive and criminal."
Each of the four appealed his firing to the Police Merit Board, which reviews disciplinary appeals. The lawyer representing the former officers in those appeals could not be reached for comment yesterday.
During yesterday's hearing, Wolfe admitted that he'd not been blameless in the incident, which started after he was arrested outside Bar Louisville on Baxter Avenue.
He admits becoming belligerent when he was thrown out of the club and mouthing off to police. "There was things that I did that night that were wrong," he said yesterday.
According to the police report, Sapp, 32; Gillenwater, 33; Kaufman, 27; and Shepherd, 34; stopped while taking Wolfe to jail, pulled him from a patrol car while he was handcuffed, and then kicked him and beat him with flashlights, batons and fists.
Wolfe told the officers in court yesterday that while "it may not matter to any of you at all," he forgives them and is putting the incident behind him. "I truly forgive you all," he said.
Wolfe said after the hearing that he doesn't plan to file a civil lawsuit against the city.
Emington said Wolfe was credible from the beginning, in part because he never filed a complaint and took responsibility for his actions.
The department's year-long investigation started after questions arose when commanders looked at administrative incident reports from the case, which are filed whenever force is used, and at photos taken of Wolfe.
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