Suffolk Detectives, Officers Plead Guilty to Cover Up Assault by Former Police Chief: Reports

A court document recently revealed that several Suffolk detectives and officers plead guilty to covering up an the assault of a man in custody by former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke in 2012, according to multiple reports.

Burke, 52, of Smithtown, was charged with assaulting Smithtown resident Christopher Loeb who was arrested for stealing a duffel bags with items from Burke's SCPD-issued SUV as well as other police vehicle in 2012, while he was handcuffed and chained to an eyebolt fastened to the floor at the Fourth Precinct.

Last month Burke was sentenced to 46 months in prison as well as three years of supervised release for conspiring to cover up the assault and obstructing a federal civil rights investigation on the incident, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Burke continued to cover up this assault when the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office opened an investigation in 2013. The police chief and detectives even agreed on a false version of events that would conceal the assault, which led to one of those detectives lying under oath, according the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Loeb's attorney, Bruce Barket, of Garden City, told Newsday that he was told at least six offices and detectives plead guilty to crimes associated with the incident.

The motion filed by Loeb states that law enforcement "knowingly trampled Loeb's constitutional rights to benefit themselves and their superiors, committed crimes against him and the community they were sworn to defend" as well as "defiled the system of justice and the proceedings before the Court by committing perjury to conceal their misconduct," ABC7 reports.

Police claim that no current Suffolk County Police Department employee plead guilty to crimes connected to the incident, according to ABC7.