Oct 12, 2007 5:02 pm US/Eastern
Westchester DA: Policeman Fatally Injured Perez
MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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Westchester prosecutors contend for the first time that a Mount Kisco police officer inflicted an injury that killed Rene Perez, a Guatemalan immigrant, in April, according to court documents.
CBS
The stakes have been raised in the case against a Mount Kisco police officer who's been charged in the death of a homeless immigrant. For the first time, Westchester County's District Attorney has claimed Officer George Bubaris struck the blow that killed Rene Perez.
Since Bubaris spoke to CBS 2 exclusively last month, the claims against him have gone from bad to worse. At the time of his indictment, Bubaris was accused of dumping Perez, a homeless alcoholic, on the side of a road. District Attorney Janet DiFiore avoided saying Bubaris struck the blow that killed Perez.
"[Bubaris] restrained Rene Perez and exposed him to a risk of serious physical injury," said DiFiore at the time.
But new court documents up the ante. DiFiore now claims that Bubaris "inflicted blunt force trauma to Perez's abdomen," causing the internal bleeding that ultimately killed him.
The claim is based on an autopsy that found several round contusions on Perez's abdomen, perhaps from a punch, or perhaps from a nightstick. But Bubaris' attorney Ed Hayes downplayed the findings.
"They have nothing to support that," Hayes said.
Hayes said the contusions were so faint that the Medical Examiner had trouble seeing them during the initial examination.
Perez, who could be seen on surveillance video from that night obtained by CBS 2, was known by police as a troublemaker who often fought with other immigrants. The night he was found injured, he lived long enough to talk to EMTs and doctors, but never mentioned being hit by an officer.
"Perez doesn't say that 'I'm sick, the cops beat me up,'" Hayes said. "When the EMT people pick him up they don't see any evidence of a beating."
But DiFiore is obviously confident that she can prove the blow that killed Perez was struck by Bubaris. The case against him includes testimony from a fellow officer who says Bubaris admitted dumping the victim on the side of a road in Bedford.
Stay with wcbstv.com and CBS 2 HD for the latest in this unfolding story.
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