Former New York police chief who led the Gilgo Beach probe arrested
A former suburban New York police chief, who was answerable for the Gilgo Beach murders investigation earlier than being sentenced to jail in 2016, was arrested once more Tuesday after authorities mentioned he solicited intercourse from an undercover park ranger.
James Burke — the Suffolk County Police Division’s chief from 2012 to 2015 — was arrested round 10:15 a.m. at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park in Farmingville, a hamlet in Lengthy Island. Burke, 58, was arrested by park rangers and charged with providing a intercourse act, indecent publicity, public lewdness, and legal solicitation, in line with Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison.
Officers mentioned Suffolk County park rangers had been conducting an operation in plain garments due to “quite a few complaints about high quality of life points” and folks soliciting intercourse on the park. In response to an arrest report obtained by The Related Press, Burke uncovered himself to a ranger and mentioned he was keen on oral intercourse.
Burke allegedly tried to keep away from arrest by leveraging his standing as a former regulation enforcement official, asking the rangers, “Are you aware who I’m?” in line with officers. As he was being taken into custody, he instructed the rangers that the arrest could be a “public humiliation for him,” Sgt. Brian Quattrini mentioned.
On the time of the incident, Quattrini added that the ranger who arrested Burke didn’t acknowledge him. Burke was then taken to a police station for processing.
“Further fees could also be pending and we’re nonetheless presently making an attempt to determine if he is nonetheless on federal probation,” Harrison mentioned throughout a information convention Tuesday.
The previous Suffolk County police chief had been sentenced to federal jail in 2016 for assault and obstruction of justice. After serving 40 months in jail, he was launched in April 2019.
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Who’s James Burke?
After main the Suffolk County Police Division for 3 years, Burke resigned in late 2015 earlier than federal prosecutors charged him for the violent assault of a person in police custody and cover-up of the incident.
Throughout his tenure, the previous police chief was underneath investigation by the FBI and U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the beating of a person who was suspected of stealing pornography, intercourse toys, and different objects from Burke’s division automobile.
Authorities accused Burke of masking up the incident and coercing witnesses with the assistance of the county’s longtime district lawyer and high corruption prosecutor. The New York Times reported that the choose within the case mentioned Burke had “corrupted a system” as tried to thwart the FBI’s investigation for 3 years.
Burke additionally led the high-profile investigation into the murders of a number of intercourse staff whose stays had been discovered alongside a Lengthy Island seashore. He has been suspected of impeding the FBI’s investigation into the Gilgo Seaside murders as different regulation enforcement officers have accused him of blocking his division’s cooperation.
A New York architect was charged with first-degree murder in reference to the deaths of three girls within the case earlier this summer time.
Face different allegations
Previous to changing into Suffolk County’s police chief, Burke was a New York Metropolis police officer within the mid-Eighties. He later moved to the Suffolk County division, one of many largest suburban forces within the nation with 2,500 officers.
As first reported by Newsday, Burke was underneath an inside division probe in 1995. The report concluded that Burke had a relationship with a lady who participated in prostitution, drug dealing, and had engaged in intercourse acts in police automobiles whereas on obligation and in uniform.
And in 2016, the Long Island Press reported that an escort accused Burke of paying her for intercourse throughout a “cocaine-fueled home occasion” in Oak Seaside in 2011 and had been “extraordinarily aggressive” together with her.
Contributing: The Related Press