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School police officer found "not
guilty" of assaulting student
November 6, 2007
Reporting by Tyra Braden
Additional articles:
Former Easton chief acquitted in school attack
(click here)
Mazzeo acquitted of assault and
harassment charges (click
here)
Former Easton Police Chief
Stephen Mazzeo, now a school police
officer at Shawnee Middle School, has been acquitted of assaulting
a student.
Mazzeo, 52, of Palmer
Township, hugged his attorney, Marc Neff of
Philadelphia, this afternoon as the seven men and five women returned
a not-guilty verdict to simple assault. Northampton County Judge Paula
A. Roscioli acquitted Mazzeo of a summary charge of harassment.
Dustin Fernandes, 14, told
jurors Mazzeo on Jan. 24 choked him, threw
him into a wall then took him to the floor to handcuff him during an
altercation. Fernandes and a secretary both testified Fernandes did
nothing aggressive.
Mazzeo, however, testified
that Fernandes was aggressive and assumed
a fighting stance before the altercation.
Former Easton chief acquitted in
school attack
November 07, 2007
By Russ Flanagan
Former Easton police Chief Stephen
A. Mazzeo was acquitted Tuesday of assaulting a Shawnee Middle
School student during a heated exchange outside an assistant
principal's office.
Mazzeo, 52, wrapped his arms around
defense attorney Marc Neff and smiled moments after the jury of
seven women and five men acquitted the school police officer of
assaulting Dustin Fernandes on Jan. 24.
"This renews our faith in the jury
system," said Neff, of Philadelphia. "Twelve ordinary citizens of
this county looked at this lifelong police officer and vindicated
him this day."
Mazzeo declined comment, as did
Assistant District Attorney John Obrecht.
Fernandes' father, Larry, said
outside the courthouse he was disappointed with the verdict. The
family now lives in Nebraska.
"I think it's a shame when a man in
a police uniform can choke a kid and then get off scot-free," he
said.
Northampton County Judge Paula A.
Roscioli acquitted Mazzeo of a summary charge of harassment.
In his closing arguments, Neff told
jurors they could not believe Dustin Fernandes, who was a
14-year-old eighth-grader when the incident occurred, and
characterized him as someone who "lies until he's caught."
The incident unfolded about 8:20
a.m. after Fernandes was denied a replacement school identification
badge. Fernandes recalled saying the badge "didn't just magically
disappear" as he walked out of Assistant Principal Gina DeBona's
office, and that's when Mazzeo told him if he had "something to say,
to turn around and say it like a man."
When Fernandes repeated his
comment, Mazzeo came within inches of the student's face and began
yelling at him, Maryann Wujkiw, an 11-year school employee,
testified.
Fernandes said he told Mazzeo that
his breath stunk and he should brush his teeth. Mazzeo then slammed
him into a wall, witnesses said, and arrested him. Mazzeo said he
heard Fernandes say, "I'm going to bust your face."
"That would be very offensive to
me," Obrecht said in his closing argument. "I submit to you it was
enough for officer Mazzeo to grab this snotty little kid by the
throat and put him up against a wall."
Obrecht acknowledged Fernandes was
a "disrespectful" teenager but said Mazzeo was the one who goaded
Fernandes into the fight with his "say it like a man" comment.
Mazzeo testified Tuesday that
Wujkiw and Cassandra LoPiccolo, 14, were wrong in their testimony
about the incident.
"It's been my experience that
untrained observers sometimes make mistakes," he said.
Mazzeo acquitted of assault and
harassment charges
November 06, 2007
Former Easton police Chief Stephen
A. Mazzeo was acquitted today of assaulting a Shawnee Middle School
student during a heated exchange outside an assistant principal's
office. Mazzeo, 52, wrapped his arms around defense attorney Marc
Neff and smiled moments after the jury of seven women and five men
acquitted the school police officer of assaulting Dustin Fernandes
on Jan. 24.
"This renews our faith in the jury
system," said Neff, of Philadelphia. "Twelve ordinary citizens of
this county looked at this lifelong police officer and vindicated
him this day."
Mazzeo declined comment, as did
Assistant District Attorney John Obrecht.
Fernandes' father, Larry, said
outside the courthouse he was disappointed with the verdict. The
family now lives in Nebraska.
"I think it's a shame when a man in
a police uniform can choke a kid and then get off scot free," he
said.
Northampton County Judge Paula A.
Roscioli acquitted Mazzeo of a summary charge of harassment.
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