Off-Duty Buffalo Cops Involved in Near Fatal Beating; Some Cops Troubled, Talk to Newspaper
William Sager Jr. was being harassed at a Buffalo, New York, college bar by the manager and two off-duty cops who had worked security for the bar earlier that Saturday night. A friend called 911 to report it and shortly after, the Buffalo News reports:
Sager was thrown down a set of stairs and placed in handcuffs while out cold.
Then, still in handcuffs and bleeding from the ears and mouth, he was dragged out on the sidewalk, a short distance from the bar. When a friend tried to intervene, he was placed under arrest.
Later, when on-duty police responded, they found an internal surveillance tape from Molly's in the trash nearby.
Sager is in an intensive care unit (ICU) and may never recover from his brain injuries. The Buffalo News pieced together what happened that night in part with the help of reports by cops who say they were troubled by the incident. Via the News again:
These reports suggest that at least one of the off-duty officers inside Molly's Pub early Sunday was more than a passive observer to the beating.
The off-duty officer retrieved his handcuffs so they could be clicked around Sager's wrists. He then complained to responding officers about Sager's friend, who was arrested.
Said one cop: "Why would an off-duty officer put handcuffs on an unconscious man?"
The concern cops say they have about the incident (crime) that happened last week isn't shared by police brass. The two off-duty cops implicated in the assault have not been arrested. They're on paid leave while the police department investigates. The FBI is reportedly also examining the incident.
Sager's friends say it's unlikely the victim "sparked the incident," as the News put it, because he was in the process of applying to be a state trooper.
