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| Rochester, NY Mayor Thomas Richards |
September 26, 2012 6:52 AM ET
By now we know that Rochester, NY police officers Ryan Hartley and Rob Osipovitch are liars.
No doubt about it.
In July of 2011, officers Hartley and Osipovitch pulled over Rochester resident Jeramie Barideaux's car for what they said was Barideaux not coming to a complete stop at an intersection.
A City of Rochester surveillance camera would later prove that both officers lied, as the video shows Jeramie Barideaux's vehicle come to a full and complete stop at the intersction of Conkey Avenue and Avenue D.
After illegally stopping and searching Barideaux's vehicle, RPD officers Hartley and Osipovitch claimed they found drugs and a weapon in the car.
On December 19, 2011 Monroe County, NY Court Judge Daniel Doyle dismissed all charges against Barideaux after seeing the video.
But not before RPD officers Hartley and Osipovitch, lied, falsified police reports and affidavits, and commited perjury when they testified in front of a grand jury.
And not before Jeramie Barideaux spent four months incarcerated.
Despite video evidence that both RPD officers Ryan Hartley and Rob Osipovitch lied, then committed perjury in front of a grand jury, Rochester, NY Mayor Thomas Richards and Rochester, NY Police Chief James Sheppard refused to take any disciplinary action against the officers.
And now, more disturbing evidence that RPD officers Ryan Hartley and Rob Osipovitch lied again, this time, illegally breaking into a home, and once again, committing perjury.
On August 9, 2012 Monroe County, NY Judge Doug Randall issued an order accusing Rochester Police officer Ryan Hartley of not only lying, but also of breaking into a man's home and conducting a "warrantless" and "unconstitutional" search.
On March 14, 2012, around 8 p.m., Rochester Police officers Ryan Hartley and Rob Osipovitch illegally broke into Christopher Charles McNair's home on Roxborough Rd. where they claimed to have found drugs and cash.
McNair would later be indicted on charges which included criminial posession of a controlled substance 1st degree; a Class A felony that carries a possible twenty year prison sentence.
However, that charge, and most of the charges in the indictment were dismissed by Judge Randall, who, during a hearing to decide what evidence would be admissibile at trial, several times "called into question" Rochester Police officer Ryan Hartley's testimony on the witness stand.
Randall's order, issued on August 9, 2012, lays out RPD officer Ryan Hartley's as well as other witness testimony, showing that RPD officers obtained a warrant to enter McNair's home around 11 p.m., but only after McNair was in custody after being pulled over for a traffic violation.
The problem is, that evidence from ADT home alarm records contradict RPD officer Ryan Hartley's testimony that he and other officers entered the home only after they obtained the warrant.
ADT notified 911 communications center that someone had entered the home around 8 p.m.
Subsequent motion sensors were triggered following that.
Also, two of McNair's neighbors, who live across the street testified that they saw police officers with flashlights inside McNair's home around 8 p.m.
RPD officer Ryan Hartley reportedly secured a perimeter around McNair's home and testified in court that he made entry into the home only after the search warrant was obtained.
Hartley also testified that his interest in McNair's home was a result of a tip from a "concerned citizen," who was later identified as a confidential informant.
Judge Randall's decision reads, "Said informant could not in any way be considered a 'concerned citizen' as characterized by officer Hartley."
At one point, Randall's decision states, “Officer Hartley’s testimony stating that no on entered the residence at 375 Roxborough Road until he returned with a signed search warrant is sufficiently discredited by the testimony of the confidential informant, Maggie Bell (neighbor), Nakeya Bell (neighbor), Stephen Fischer and the timing of the 911 calls, the motion sensor alarm, the ADT Security alarm notifications, and the CAD (911/police) reports related to what occurred inside the residence at 375 Roxborough Road on March 14, 2012.”
According to Randall's decision, RPD officer Ryan Hartley and Rob Osipovitch both were involved in drafting the search warrant.
RPD officer Rob Osipovitch was also involved in the warrantless break in and search of McNair's home.
Judge Randall's decision comes about a month after RPD officers Hartley and Osipovitch were named in a lawsuit filed by Jeramie Barideaux's attorney.
Also disturbing is the fact that on December 19, 2011, the same day that Judge Doyle dismissed charges against Jeramie Barideaux, Monroe County, NY Public Defender Tim Donaher sent an email to the city of Rochester, alerting city officials to RPD officers Ryan Hartley and Rob Osipovitch.
In Donaher's email he writes, "I believe that there is reasonable cause to believe that the officers (RPD Ofc. Osipovitch and Ofc. Hartley) falsified their police reports and maybe perjured themselves at GJ." (Grand Jury)
Donaher's email continues, "I do not make these accusations lightly, but given the video evidence I cannot reconcile what is contained in the police reports with what the video evidence shows. Either two officers falsely claimed to see something they did not see (and relied instead upon the false report of another officer), or all three officers lied in their reports as to what actually occurred."
So, despite the city of Rochester being notified of RPD officers Ryan Hartley and Rob Osipovitch lying, falsifying police reports and committing perjury, city officials did nothing.
My question is we know of at least two incidents where Rochester Police officers Ryan Hartley and Rob Osipovitch have lied and committed perjury, and as a result, an innocent man spent four months incarcerated... What other crimes have officers Hartley and Osipovitch committed that we don't know about?
