Veteran Syracuse police captain
suspended for slapping accused copper thief
By Douglass Dowty
Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse
police commander was suspended without pay for 25 days after hitting a copper
burglary suspect in December, a source said.
On Dec. 16, Capt. John Brennan
spotted two people carrying garbage bins of copper into an apartment in the
1800 block of East Fayette Street, according to police reports.
During the investigation,
Brennan struck one of the suspects in the back of the head, the suspect and
sources said. The strike was described as a slap or a smack, not as severe as a
closed-fist punch.
That slap cost Brennan at least
$8,156 in base pay, not including overtime, based on his 2014 salary. Brennan
made $145,903 -- including $56,386 in overtime -- last year, according to city
records.
The 44-year police veteran has
served in a variety of influential roles, including the cold case squad,
commander of the gang task force and periodic spokesman for the major crimes
unit. He was commander of the patrol division's day shift when the incident
happened, a source said.
The suspect, Esau Villarreal,
said he complained to Jail Ministry at the Onondaga County Justice Center.
Villarreal told Syracuse.com during a jailhouse interview that he sought
medical treatment at the jail for headaches.
The Syracuse police and the
watchdog Citizen Review Board began separate investigations into Brennan's
conduct, Villarreal said.
Brennan was placed on
administrative leave during an internal police investigation, then suspended, a
source said. He will lose his duties as a commanding officer upon his return.
Payroll records show Brennan
began serving his suspension in January.
The punishment is unusual for
the police department, according to a Syracuse.com review of known cases
reported to the Citizen Review Board. The board sustained 22 complaints against
police officers in about a year, with the chief only disciplining officers in
five of those cases, according to CRB reports from 2012 and 2013.
The CRB does not report what
discipline the police chief imposed. The board declined comment when asked
about the current investigation into Brennan's actions.
Reached at his home, Brennan
said, "I can't comment" when asked about the suspension.
Villarreal claimed that he
found the copper and a computer in a wooded area near his Seeley Road
residence. His roommate, Christopher Baxter, was with him.
Brennan had Villarreal take at
least three officers to the spot where he claimed to find the items, Villarreal
said.
But the officers didn't believe
Villarreal. The snow was undisturbed at that location and there was no evidence
of footprints or wheel tracks from the garbage bins, police wrote later in a
report.
Brennan told him, "You
couldn't have gotten it here," Villarreal recalled during his interview.
As Villarreal continued to
maintain his innocence, Brennan became more irate, Villarreal said.
Brennan then slapped him in the
back of the head as other officers watched, Villarreal said. The slap happened
through Villarreal's hooded sweatshirt. It snapped his head forward, Villarreal
said.
"He smacked me upside my
head," Villarreal said. "I asked, 'Why the hell did you hit me?'
(Brennan) didn't respond."
Villarreal was handcuffed and
taken back to a patrol car. Baxter, who did not see the slap, was also put into
a patrol car. Both men said they were released a short time later as the
investigation continued.
But later that day, the
officers returned to the suspects' house to arrest them. Villarreal said he
asked why Brennan had hit him earlier.
Brennan, both suspects said,
replied that he'd "do it again" because Villarreal was a thief. Other
officers witnessed that comment, too, Villarreal said.
Villarreal and Baxter were then
both taken to jail.
They were each charged with
felony burglary, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property,
according to court paperwork. Police accused them of stealing more than $4,000
in copper and a Dell computer from the Patrician Snowflake Bakery building,
1951 E. Fayette St.
Baxter remains in jail on
$25,000 bail and Villarreal on $50,000 bail, according to jail records.
Syracuse police did not respond
to a request for information, noting that personnel matters are kept
confidential under civil service law.
This incident comes more than
four decades into Brennan's high-profile police career. He made a name for
himself in the Criminal Investigations Division, which probes homicides and
other serious crimes. He was promoted to captain in 2010 and became day
commander of the patrol division, which responds to all
