By ANDREW SMITH
A former Suffolk County police sergeant has
been charged with 20 more hate crimes in an indictment that accuses him of
repeatedly targeting and stealing from Hispanic motorists.
Scott A. Greene, 50, of
Shirley, who retired in April, already was charged with several counts of
fourth-degree grand larceny as a hate crime and official misconduct for
allegedly stealing from six Hispanic motorists.
The new indictment unsealed
Tuesday accuses him of stealing from 20 other Hispanic drivers who told
prosecutors what happened to them. For each victim, he is charged with larceny,
larceny as a hate crime and official misconduct.
State Supreme Court Justice
Fernando Camacho allowed Greene to remain free with no bail, although Greene
did spend the morning in handcuffs after turning himself in to face the new
charges. He pleaded not guilty and left the courtroom escorted by court
officers and his attorney, Timothy Mazzei of Blue Point. Greene and Mazzei did
not comment.
As with the previous cases,
District Attorney Thomas Spota said Greene pulled over Hispanic motorists
driving cars in Coram with out-of-state license plates. He asked for the
driver's wallet, went back to his patrol car and then returned the wallet --
minus about $100 -- and let them go without writing a traffic ticket.
Spota said investigators
"had to scour thousands of documents to corroborate" the accusations,
including radio transmissions, license plate checks and summonses written by
Greene.
He credited Hispanic advocacy
groups for helping the new victims come forward and testify before a grand
jury.
Spota said the investigation is
continuing and his office is still willing to hear from other potential
victims.
Irma Solis, Long Island
organizer for Make The Road New York, thanked Spota for taking the victims
seriously and pursuing Greene.
She and Spota differed,
however, on whether Greene acted alone. Spota said his investigation found no
other officer engaging in such behavior. Solis said that seemed unlikely, and
she urged prosecutors to cast a wider net.
"It's very difficult to
believe others [in the police department] didn't know what he was doing,"
Solis said. Greene should be held responsible for what he did, but not for
anyone else, she said.
Greene was first targeted in a
sting in January, a result of a half-dozen other drivers identifying him as the
officer who pulled them over and stole their cash, prosecutors said.
Greene was arrested Jan. 30
after he was recorded on video taking $100 cash from an envelope on the front
seat of a car driven by a Hispanic undercover detective on Granny Road in
Coram, Spota said.
Spota said Greene also stood
out for his seemingly zealous traffic enforcement. "It was an
extraordinary amount of stops for a sergeant," he said.
