Nassau Cop Sentenced to Conditional Discharge in Menacing

A Nassau County Police officer convicted of pointing his gun at the head of a Farmingdale bartender has been sentenced to a conditional discharge.


Richard Hefferon, 48, who was convicted of third-degree menacing, a misdemeanor, for the 2011 incident, was sentenced Tuesday to a conditional discharge that includes 150 hours of community service, continued therapy with quarterly reports to the courts, and a $500 fine.

This sentence, handed down by Judge Rhonda Erin Fischer, follows about two years of court- and NCDA-monitored therapy. Hefferon also received an order of protection barring him from having a weapon while not on-duty, the Nassau District Attorney's office said.

Hefferon was off-duty when the incident occurred at about 5:50 a.m. on April 26, 2011, Hefferon had several drinks at the South Main Street Pub in Farmingdale when he aimed a loaded police-issued weapon at bartender Charlie Ball's head. The incident was captured on security cameras in the bar, authorities said.

He was arrested in June, 2011 and could have faced up to a year in jail.

“I turn my back and I turned back around and the the next thing I know, he’s got this gun out and pointed right at me,” Ball said at the time. “It could have gone a different way."
Hefferon then a 17-year veteran of the Nassau County Police Department, was immediately placed on restricted duty after the incident and his weapons were confiscated, authorities said.