UTICA — The Utica Police Department began an investigation after it was made aware of a social media video of an incident from Feb. 9 that involved a police sergeant and people known as “first amendment auditors.”
In the incident, the sergeant arrived to investigate a call that had been made to police from a driver upset that two men were filming with their cellphone cameras outside a local business.
The driver called the Utica police. When Utica Police Detective Sgt. Greg Morabito arrived on the scene, the sergeant and two men exchanged words, insults began and the incident was recorded on the men’s cellphones.
In the video, inappropriate remarks and comments were exchanged, and Morabito appears to slap a phone from a man’s hand. Later, according to the video, the men in the incident appear to attempt to file a complaint with Utica police, Morabito tells them to come back to file the complaint the next day, a heated exchange continues and then one of the men is arrested by Morabito.
Utica Deputy Police Chief Matthew Kaluzny said in a press release from the Utica Police Department Feb. 10 that the matter was being investigated.
“The City of Utica takes these issues seriously, and an investigation into the incident has been initiated. At this time, the Department can confirm that the sergeant has been placed on leave pending a full and transparent investigation into the matter,” the release states.
Sean Coady, the Utica police chief, said Morabito remained on leave and the incident was being investigated by multiple agencies.
“This matter is being reviewed by an outside agency, as well as an internal review. Until these are completed, the detective will remain on administrative leave,” he said via text message.
Coady said that the department assigned Morabito’s work to another officer. Coady said March 4 that he expected the investigation to conclude in a couple of weeks.
Morabito declined to comment and referred questions to Coady.
The video with uncensored language can be seen on YouTube. An email was sent to the email address identified with the YouTube account, Fricn Media, and a reply was received.
“I am not part of a group; it was me that was assaulted and arrested by Det. Sgt. Morabito. My desired outcome is the firing of Morabito and an apology, at a minimum. I’ll let my attorney handle the lawsuit,” states the reply. The person who sent the message did not provide a name.
Utica police sergeant placed on leave pending investigation into incident - C&G Newspapers
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