Grand Jury Clears 4 in Beating Outside Roosevelt Deli

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP)  -- An off-duty New York City police officer and three other men were cleared Friday of criminal charges following an altercation outside a Long Island deli that some had claimed was racially motivated.


Mona Rivera Reports

A Nassau County grand jury heard from more than a dozen witnesses over five days before voting to dismiss charges, said District Attorney Kathleen Rice.

``The problem is that different people saw various portions of the incident and nearly all of them managed to see something completely different,'' Rice said. She said the grand jury either believed there was insufficient evidence to support assault charges, or they believed the four men were acting in self-defense. Details of their secret deliberations were not revealed.

Daryl Jackson, 52, of Roosevelt, was hospitalized on March 8 with head injuries following the dispute outside a deli in his hometown. Police believe one of the deli workers told Jackson to leave the front of the store because he was suspected of panhandling. The dispute quickly turned violent and three other workers and an off-duty police officer came outside the store to assist.

The victim told police at the time that one of the assailants uttered racial epithets, but Rice said he later told authorities that he didn't believe the altercation had anything to do with either party's race. The victim was black and the suspects were Hispanic.

``It may not have served as a motivator for the incident, and it doesn't tell us who started the fight, but given the language that was used, it is certainly a deeply troubling undercurrent to this whole situation,'' the prosecutor said.

In the days following the incident, the Rev. Al Sharpton met with the victim and urged that hate crime charges be filed against the suspects. Advocates for Latinos also converged on the deli to defend the accused.

Fernando Mateo, president of a group called Hispanics Across America, said in a statement Friday that he was pleased with the grand jury's decision. ``We must stop invoking the word hate whenever a person of color is involved in an altercation,'' he said. ``A hate crime is a particularly heinous act, committed when someone is targeted based on their race. This was not the case here.''

Rice also said reports that the victim had been attacked with a bat could not be verified and said a physician at Nassau University Medical Center did not find evidence Jackson had endured a bat attack.

The grand jury decision clears the men of assault and weapons charges.

``We are gratified with this decision and that officer Nunez's good name has been restored,'' said William Petrillo, a defense attorney for Police Officer Juan Nunez. The officer had been placed on modified duty during the investigation, but Petrillo said his client's exoneration will put him back on the force full time.

Also cleared were deli workers: Kelvin Vargas, 23, Jose Miguel Vargas, 35, Persio Vargas, 53.