The officer, Michael Ackermann, 30, claimed that the photographer interfered with an arrest last year of a teenage girl by repeatedly discharging his camera’s flash in Officer Ackermann’s face. But the officer’s account unraveled after the office of Robert T. Johnson, the Bronx district attorney, examined photographic evidence and determined that the photographer, Robert Stolarik, did not use a flash and did not have one on his camera at the time. Prosecutors added that no other police officers or civilian witnesses reported seeing a flash.
Officer Ackermann, 30, was arraigned at State Supreme Court in the Bronx. He was charged with several counts related to filing false records and official misconduct. If convicted on the top count, he faces up to seven years in prison and could lose his job. He was released without bail pending the outcome of the case.
Calls to the lawyer who represented Officer Ackermann in court were not returned, and the Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Stolarik, who has worked on assignments for The Times for more than a decade, was working with two Times reporters on the evening of Aug. 4, 2012, when he began taking pictures of a brewing street fight at McClellan Street and Sheridan Avenue in the Bronx.
When an officer told Mr. Stolarik to stop taking pictures of a girl being arrested, he identified himself as a Times journalist and continued taking pictures. Another officer grabbed his camera and slammed it into his face, Mr. Stolarik said at the time. As he asked for their badge numbers, the officers took his cameras and pulled him to the ground.
At the time, the Police Department said in a statement that officers had given “numerous lawful orders” for both the crowd and Mr. Stolarik to move back, but that he tried to push forward and “inadvertently” struck an officer in the face with his camera. The police said that Mr. Stolarik “violently resisted being handcuffed,” leading to a second officer being cut on the hand.
The charges against Mr. Stolarik, 44, were dismissed. He declined to comment on Monday.
“We are pleased that officials in the Bronx took a serious look at this case and brought an indictment after finding police misconduct,” said Abbe Serphos, a Times spokeswoman. “We remain troubled that the arrest of the photographer, Robert Stolarik, was made in the first place.”
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/nyregion/officer-is-indicted-on-charges-of-lying-about-photographers-arrest.html?partner=rss&emc=rss