By Rocco LaDuca
Herkimer, N.Y.
NEW HARTFORD — Former Frankfort
village police Chief Steven Conley has been charged with allegedly harassing an
officer whom he has had a tumultuous conflict with stemming back four years.
Samuel Ameduri III, an officer
with the Frankfort Village Police Department who was off-duty, was walking
outside Wal-Mart in New Hartford at about 8 p.m. March 14 when he allegedly
noticed Conley sitting in an SUV outside the doorway, according to police
reports.
As Ameduri and a family member
continued toward their vehicle, Conley allegedly followed behind and appeared
to be using his cell phone to take a video or photographs of Ameduri, the
deposition states. Conley also appeared to motion his fingers across his own
throat several times to suggest he “wanted to cut my head off,” while saying
something that was inaudible from inside his vehicle.
“Once I saw his face I
continued walking to my vehicle because I was in fear of my life,” Ameduri told
police in a statement. “I did not want a confrontation with him because I am
not sure what he will do … Steve has been doing these types of actions to me
since 2010 and I am 100% deathly afraid of him.”
Following an investigation,
police charged Conley with second-degree harassment and he is due to appear in
New Hartford Town Court on Thursday, court officials said. Conley could not be
reached for comment Tuesday.
Ameduri is also seeking an
order of protection to keep Conley away from him.
It’s been nearly four years
since Conley resigned as police chief in July 2010 following mounting troubles
between him and Ameduri.
First, Ameduri said Conley
choked him in early 2010 during an alleged attempt to get Ameduri to change his
sworn testimony in a civil lawsuit involving a village resident who claimed
Conley wrongfully arrested him.
Then, around the same time in
February 2010, Ameduri’s cell phone records were illegally seized by another
Frankfort village officer conducting a “covert undercover” investigation into
the conflict between Conley and Ameduri. Attorneys have previously said the
phone records were sought at the direction of Conley and the village mayor,
Frank Moracco.
In Ameduri’s statement to New
Hartford police, he added: “I have had several dealings with (Conley) in the
past that have been documented by the Utica Police Department, the Town
Frankfort Police Department, and the Oneida County District Attorney’s office.”
John Geer