NUTTY OF PA TO AX
Ex-cop pushes rehire
An ex-Port Authority Police Department inspector, after his acquittal on charges of kneeing an eccentric GOP bigwig in the testicles, is kicking up a storm to get his job back.
After a Manhattan Criminal Court jury found John Fitzpatrick innocent June 15, his lawyer fired off a letter to PA brass demanding the agency reinstate the veteran law enforcement officer to his $163,176-a-year job.
“This isn’t just a job. I can go out and get another job,” said Fitzpatrick. “This is my profession — it’s nearly 30 years of my life.”
Fitzpatrick was charged with kneeing Arcadio Casillas in the genitals in a bizarre Park Ave. scuffle after the law enforcer stopped a cab that allegedly cut off his unmarked police SUV. The confrontation occurred outside the Union League Club in Midtown the night of Jan. 9, 2017.
Casillas, 70, a prominent Republican Party player and organizer for President Trump’s 2016 campaign, never reported injuries to his groin or head when he was seen by medical staff the night of the interaction. But he claimed at trial that the larger, younger man targeted his nether region and knocked him unconscious.
The veteran officer said from the outset that it was pure fiction — yet he was fired on Jan. 20, 2017, less than two weeks after the incident.
“Demand is hereby made that Mr. Fitzpatrick be immediately reinstated to his former position, with all the back pay and allowances,” wrote lawyer Marvyn Kornberg to Port Authority human resources official Mary Lee Hannell in his June 19 missive.
Fitzpatrick’s lawyer said the 51-year-old career cop — who rose through the ranks as an MTA police officer before retiring and joining the Port Authority police as a boss — was never given a fair shake by authorities.
He had no choice but to reject a sitdown with Port Authority Police Department officials while the case was pending because he could not do so “without giving up his right against self-incrimination,” according to the Kornberg letter.
Casillas has a $100 million civil lawsuit against the agency and Fitzpatrick. The law enforcement veteran compared the case against him to “a locomotive.”
He said the humiliation of the allegations has taken a toll on him and his family.
Kornberg said that he wouldn’t let the agency “speak to John in light of the fact that they were really the arresting officer of John and there was a pending case.”
They should have kept him suspended pending the outcome of the case, which was his status upon arrest, Kornberg said. The lawyer said was “ridiculous” that the PA “fired somebody merely because of an allegation.”
The Port Authority would not comment on whether a reinstatement was under consideration.
In a counterclaim, Fitzpatrick says his accuser made a “false and malicious” report. The Kornberg letter says Fitzpatrick is prepared to sue for his job back.