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Richard, Dana Sellitto (Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR)
Richard Sellitto, 27, of Maywood, is suspended without pay, authorities told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
He is charged with retaliating against a witness, lying to investigators and hindering his own arrest and prosecution.
Also charged is his sister, 25-year-old Dana Sellitto, also of Maywood. Both have initial court appearances scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Central Municipal Court in Hackensack.
Sellitto was first involved in a scuffle last December with a bartender at the Pointin Still in Hackensack who broke his jaw (SEE: Probe under way into bar fight).
The second fight broke out several months later, this one at the Houlihan’s in Paramus. It was near closing time on June 7 when Sellitto dialed 911 to report that he, his sister and a friend “were assaulted by a group of individuals who fled the scene,” Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said this afternoon.
A group of Hackensack officers, along with a pair of colleagues from Paramus, rushed to the home of one of the men, Andrew Milberg, seeking revenge, Molinelli told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Among those charged in connection with the visit are Officer Anthony Ferraioli, who, the prosecutor said, bashed Milberg in the head, sending him to the hospital with an ear injury. Ferraioli then “filed a police report containing false information,” Molinelli said.
Ferraioli remains free on bail, suspended without pay, charged with official misconduct, aggravated assault and falsifying police records.
Detectives also arrested Officer Alberto Gutierrez, 57, and charged him with obstructing justice and witness tampering for allegedly “coaching” one of the officers on what to say to the prosecutor’s investigators (SEE: Second Hackensack officer charged …). He, too, remains free on bail.
Milberg was arrested on charges of possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia, two law enforcement sources told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. Initial reports were then changed in an attempt to indicate he resisted arrest, they said.
Molinelli today officially confirmed that his investigators found that Silletto “purposefully, falsely identified Andrew Milberg as being involved in the assault at Houlihan’s in order to hinder the prosecution of Anthony Ferraioli for allegedly assaulting Milberg.“
Ferraioli, a 47-year-old former union president from Paramus, is one of one of more than a dozen officers who have brought civil rights charges against now-suspended Police Chief Charles “Ken” Zisa, claiming he retaliated against them for various reasons. (SEE: Hackensack officer suing city, county charged with beating, cover-up).
But as CLIFFVIEW PILOT first reported exclusively, a federal judge in Newark dismissed several civil rights complaints against Zisa and others by four other Hackensack police officers. Perhaps more significantly, the judge indicated he could require the city to impose sanctions against them (SEE: Federal judge dismisses complaints).
Molinelli’s office monitored the city department for 11 months, under a Memorandum of Understanding with the city, after Zisa was charged in April 2010 with insurance fraud and covering up a DWI crash involving his girlfriend. Major internal matters have since been referred to his investigators to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Capt. Tomas Padilla has remained in charge.
Sellitto was drinking last December at the Poitin Still — a popular Hackensack police hangout — when the bartender asked him to leave, a law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. They got into an argument, which turned into a fight in the parking lot, he said.
The source didn’t say how many witnesses were there, or whether anyone summoned police.
However, a review by CLIFFVIEW PILOT of police logs — which are open for public inspection — show no calls came in to headquarters from that location that night.
According to more than one source, the injured cop’s father called headquarters at least 14 hours later to find out what happened.
Officers were then dispatched to interview the officer. Meanwhile, a criminal background check turned up a 2001 domestic violence warrant for the bartender.
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