State trooper under the gun
Parents, students target officer for alleged acts of harassment

 

Larry Liptscher, his wife Kathleen Chilcott and their children, Benjamin and Rebeccah, are among several families that have accused Trooper Mario Velez of harassment while working as a school resource officer.

Story and photo by Adam Stone
New York State Police are investigating whether Hendrick Hudson's school resource officer harasses students, including allegations from parents and their children of coerced confessions, violent fits of rage and unwarranted bodily searches.

State Trooper Mario Velez, the officer from the Cortlandt barracks, is accused of creating an atmosphere of fear at Hendrick Hudson High, where he has worked as a resource officer since the second half of the 2001-02 school year.

Larry Liptscher and Kathleen Chilcott, the parents of two of Velez's alleged teenage victims, also claim district administrators are attempting to cover-up the transgressions because they fear a lawsuit.

A school resource officer, more commonly known as an SRO, can be a valuable asset, both parents agreed, but, they asserted, Velez abuses his power.

"The school has lost its mission," Chilcott, the owner of Kathleen's Tea Room in Peekskill, exclaimed last night (Tuesday) during an interview at her place of business. "It's supposed to be an educational institution. I want an SRO there, but one who actually builds relationships with the children. This man views all students as potential perpetrators."

Her two children, Benjamin, a 16-year-old junior, and Rebeccah, a 15-year-old freshman, have both had run-ins with Velez, prompting their parents to file a complaint in late March that led to the police investigation.

Benjamin Liptscher complained of two major incidents, including one in December when Velez allegedly threatened, in front of the principal, to punch him in the face following a fist fight the teen had just had off school grounds.

"'If you don't shut your mouth, then I'm going to (hit) you in the face,'" Liptscher recalled Velez warning him in Principal James Mackin's office. "I said, 'Mackin, did your SRO just threaten to hit me in the face?' He didn't really respond. When my mom came, (Velez) said, 'Go ahead, tell your mother.'"

The 16-year-old also claims in May of last year Velez threatened to have him jailed unless he admitted on a signed police form to smoking marijuana.

Liptscher was arrested for drug paraphernalia possession and also charged in the December incident with disorderly conduct. He admits to having possessed a drug pipe, but remains furious that Velez allegedly refused to allow him to speak with an attorney or contact a family member with his parents vacationing in Mexico.

Rebeccah Liptscher, for her part, accused Velez of falsely documenting that she admitted to returning to campus drunk after cutting class in January. The freshman does admit to cutting the class with friends, but denied the allegations of drinking.

Nevertheless, she was suspended for five days and ordered to a superintendent's hearing. Two of her friends who she cut classes with were also suspended, and they admitted to drinking, but only because Velez coaxed them into doing so after intense and menacing interrogation sessions, the girl claimed.

"They eventually confessed to drinking even though they didn't," she remarked. "He tries to convince you what to say. He would say, 'you might as well admit it because I already have the proof.' I really don't like him. He yells in kids' faces for no reason. It's just disrespectful."

The teen's family provided North County News with a pink disciplinary referral slip that details her admission of guilt on January 13. It was signed by the assistant principal before she even spoke with school officials about the incident, and was sitting in front of her when Velez started his interrogation, Liptscher claimed.

Brother and sister both carry with them daily a memo delivered to the school administration that demands that Velez not question, interview or interrogate them unless their mother or legal counsel is present.

A separate complaint was also filed by Kelli Troccoli, whose son Matthew is a 17-year-old junior.

She filed the grievance verbally early last month with Lieutenant Michael Realmuto of the Hawthorne barracks and issued a formal statement to him on May 3.

Troccoli claimed Matthew was strip searched down to his underwear in the fall by Velez, even forced to remove a brace from his right leg, which he hurt playing football. She alleged the incident transpired in the office of John Owens, an assistant principal who is well liked by parents and students interviewed for this article.

The mother of two declined to explain why she waited so long to file the complaint or elaborate on what prompted the strip search, but did say a reasonable rationale exists.

"He's very arrogant and comes across as a tough guy and a bully," Troccoli said separately. "He doesn't try to be a mentor or provide guidance. He's basically just there to harass."

Reached by telephone at the high school yesterday, Velez declined to comment about the investigation or the allegations.

"You're gonna have to talk to my sergeant," he said.

Sergeant William Dexter, Velez's supervisor at the Cortlandt barracks, said, "I can't comment on that," when asked to speak about the matter.

He did confirm an internal investigation has been launched.

"I don't know when it will be completed," he remarked, adding the results of the investigation will not be made public regardless of the findings.

Troop K in Poughkeepsie, which patrols Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester counties, is conducting the investigation.

The State Police Internal Affairs Bureau for the southern region, headquartered in the Town of New Windsor, is overseeing the investigation.

"There is an investigation ongoing at this point," Captain Robert Hughes from internal affairs said yesterday. "As a result, I can't discuss any details about it. However, there is one in existence and it's continuing to be pursued."

Disciplinary action resulting from an internal affairs investigation ranges from a letter of censure to dismissal, Hughes added.

Schools Superintendent Joan Thompson and Board of Education President Ellette Chatkin both applauded Velez's job performance and denied knowing of any specific allegations.

They also disputed claims from Liptscher and Chilcott that they have been non-responsive.

"The family did not contact me or the school board," Chatkin asserted. "I have not gotten any formal complaint from them. I feel (Velez) does a very, very good job. Students and teachers respect him. He has a very hard job."

"Each year I have written a letter to his commander commending him for the work he has done," Thompson said.

Liptscher and Chilcott did produce a letter of complaint to the State Police that lists Chatkin as being among the carbon copied recipients.

"Taking occasionally truant students into an office and interrogating them as if they were fugitives from justice is beyond comprehension as well as the scope of the job," Liptscher, an accountant, wrote in the March 27 letter, addressed to Superintendent Wayne E. Bennett of the State Police.

Liptscher and Chilcott stressed the administration is complicit given what they view as the district's tacit support of Velez's alleged misbehavior.

"In January we tried to speak with School Superintendent Thompson about our concerns," Liptscher and Chilcott stated in an e-mail sent to North County News late last night. "She literally hid in her office and refused to meet with us. No wonder Trooper Velez feels free to carry on the way he does. This district has unfortunately lost its mission. We want our children to be safe in school and strongly believe in the SRO program. Sadly enough, this SRO turns out to be the greatest impediment to their safety and peace of mind."

Thompson and Chatkin both acknowledged they were aware of an advertisement Liptscher and Chilcott placed in the PennySaver. With a two- week run that began in late April, the ad printed the couple's phone number and raised questions about "the cultural change in our high school" and asked, among other inquiries in the carefully parsed statement, whether "you or your child had questionable or overly zealous contact with a non-faculty member within our high school" or if there was a "reason to question this person or person's reactions or involvement in disciplinary proceedings."

The advertisement generated 40 responses, estimated Liptscher, who also boasted of 19 signatures he was able to gather on a petition that calls for Velez's ouster.

Asked about the allegations, Thompson replied, "We haven't gotten any specifics," but did say she offered the services of a mediator in a letter.

In fact, she claimed she phoned Liptscher and Chilcott, but never received a return call.

"She's full of road muffins," Liptscher responded, questioning the credibility of Thompson, who is scheduled to leave her post at the end of August.

Liptscher brandished a copy of the May 2 letter from Thompson, which reiterates the departing superintendent's "support (for) the (state-funded) SRO program which provides additional security and counsel to the high school at no cost."

Thompson provided North County News with an April 24 letter addressed to Realmuto of Troop K in Hawthorne that stated that, "Mario has an excellent rapport with students, staff and parents."

"He is seen as a resource in every sense of the word, not just as a law officer but as counselor, teacher, mentor and general advisor," the letter continued.

Many of the parents and students interviewed about Velez also implicated Mackin as being part of the problem.

The two are good friends, they say, and Mackin is more concerned about protecting his buddy than protecting the well-being of students.

"One is a cop, the other is a cop wannabe," Liptscher said.

Mackin, reached by phone yesterday, directed all questions to the superintendent, even declining to reveal how many years Velez has been with the high school.

"Any comments have to come through Ms. Thompson," Mackin insisted.

Comments from parents and students, conversely, were plentiful last night, as many poured into Kathleen's Tea Room to air their grievances to a reporter during four hours of interviews.

Others spoke by telephone about their complaints, with some in attendance frantically calling around town seeking parents and students to speak about Velez on the record.

About a dozen people with complaints declined to discuss their experiences with Velez, while others would only speak if quoted anonymously or with just a first name printed. All said they feared reprisal, either from Velez or the district or both.

During the interview session, parents and students painted Velez as a ruthless cop with self-esteem issues who unloads his frustrations mostly on lower-income students.

A 16-year-old junior, who would only allow her first name, Jessica, to be printed, said her most serious confrontation with Velez came as a freshman when she was accused of stealing a cell phone, which she denies.

After being badgered repeatedly by Velez, Jessica claims, she admitted to a crime she didn't commit.

Jessica was arrested by authorities and suspended for two-and-a-half months by the school.

But the most humiliating part of the incident, she said, was being led out of the school and forced to pretend to be handcuffed. Initially, Jessica alleges, Velez wanted to actually handcuff her before being escorted out of the school and into a police car, but her father convinced the trooper not to do so.

"He said he wanted me to be an example," Jessica, who was 15 at the time, said. "(Another) trooper made me hold my hands behind my head to look like I was cuffed."

One 40-year-old district mother, who asked that her name not be published, said she recalled, as others did, Velez picking his daughter up from the Buchanan/Verplanck Elementary School in his squad car. More offensive was Velez's consistent and inappropriate use of limited handicapped parking, said the woman, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.

"It's hard for me to walk," explained the mother, who also noted an incident in which she claimed Velez's jealous wife, allegedly under her husband's orders, demanded that she discontinue exchanging pleasantries with the trooper. "He would also park behind cars and block them. When I said something he responded, 'Oh well,' like what are you going to do?"

Jon Ferguson, a 15-year-old freshman, was one of Rebeccah Liptscher's friends involved in the alleged off-campus drinking incident.

"He kept saying we were lying and that if we didn't admit to it he would keep asking until we said yes," Ferguson recalled. "It was non-stop for like 15 minutes. I couldn't stand it anymore. My parents weren't even there and he had a gun on his waste. The only rule we broke was going off campus."

Jon's father, Dennis Ferguson, a former cop in the mid-1990s when living in Jacksonville, Florida, said inserting an armed police officer in a school is an inherently flawed idea.

"It's like putting a bull in a chicken coup," he said. "I'd prefer a monitor or a teacher doing the same job. It's just a recipe for disaster. It's not Trooper Velez."

But for Desiree Werner, an 18-year-old senior, it is about Trooper Velez.

As a 90-pound freshman, she claimed Velez slammed her against a door in Mackin's office after he claimed she resisted arrest. She does admit to three weeks earlier punching a girl in the face, which resulted in a one-year probation sentence that was suspended after six months.

"I walked out the door after being slammed into it and was then arrested," recalled Werner, who was 14 at the time.

Other area teens who don't attend Hendrick Hudson schools also complained about Velez.

Mike Tatavitto, a 17-year-old dropout, claims Velez kneed him in the back, pinned him down, and then smashed his face into the ground after Velez tried to search his backpack for drugs three years ago.

"I was at the candy store with friends and I tried to push him away, but he threw me to the ground and searched me," commented Tatavitto, who said he was charged as a result of the search with possession and attempt to sell drugs. "I was in the barracks for four hours and no one was told. My mother only found me because a friend told her."

The National Association of School Resource Officers' website states that "school-based policing…is the fastest growing area of law enforcement."

More than half of Westchester's 40-odd school districts now employ at least one uniformed police officer in the high school or the middle school or both, according to an August 30 article in The New York Times.

Increased police presence at public schools started to sprout after the Columbine tragedy.

If the district dos not cooperate, Larry Liptscher and Kathleen Chilcott say they may file a lawsuit.

"If we don't get satisfaction," Chilcott began, "anything is possible."

Concluded Liptscher, "(Velez) walks around and he's got a grudge and he's got a gun. There's no time for any Norman Rockwell moments."