Allegations Suffolk withheld IA report 'demonstrably untrue,' county attorney says in court papers

Allegations that Suffolk did not disclose a 50-page Internal Affairs report that contained 19 instances of substantiated officer violations to lawyers for a Long Beach man allegedly assaulted by police are “demonstrably untrue,” the county attorney’s office said in court papers filed on Thursday.

County Attorney Christopher Clayton said his office had no objection to providing the report to lawyers for Christopher Cruz, but acknowledged that Suffolk did not produce the report because two defendants not represented by the county indicated they opposed its release.

Cruz’s attorney Fred Brewington told Newsday this week he only learned about the report after it was mailed to his office in March by an anonymous tipster.

In a letter sent to U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlene Lindsay filed on Monday, Brewington asked the court to hold a conference to discuss alleged violations of federal court rules and potential sanctions against the county.

Cruz, who police said stole a Jeep Grand Cherokee on Feb. 24, 2021, filed a federal lawsuit in 2022 that alleged he was beaten by officers while handcuffed and face down in a snowbank after a car chase. The lawsuit claimed police violated Cruz’s civil rights and targeted him because he is Latino.

A Suffolk police spokeswoman declined to comment on Thursday’s filing.

“The county has a long-standing policy to not comment on pending litigation, but we reject counsel’s claims of misconduct,” said Michael Martino, a spokesman for Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, in a statement.

In a filing responding to Brewington’s allegations on Thursday, Clayton said the county listed an Internal Affairs file in papers responding to the lawsuit in July 2023 and October 2023.

“There is no basis for allowing plaintiff to seek sanctions against the county because his claim that we did not disclose the existence of an Internal Affairs Bureau file is demonstrably untrue,” Clayton wrote.

Brewington said including an Internal Affairs file in a list of documents to be produced by the defendants is inadequate and hindered Cruz’s legal team as it prepared the plaintiff before the county’s attorneys deposed Cruz on Feb. 27.

“A general reference to an IAB report does not disclose that there was an investigation that had been completed over two years prior,” Brewington said. “It does not state that there were findings against officers and does not disclose that any form of discipline was ever issued against a single officer.”

In Thursday’s filing, Clayton said the county planned to produce the Internal Affairs file after the confidentiality agreement between the parties was signed in January, but backed off after attorneys for two defendants, Matthew Cameron and William Bubeck, expressed concerns.

In a letter also sent to Lindsay on Thursday, Cameron’s attorney William P. Nolan expressed concerns about releasing the Internal Affairs report, saying Suffolk prosecutors “illegally” provided a copy of the officer’s grand jury testimony — which by law is supposed to be secret — to Internal Affairs investigators. In May, Nolan said he gave Cruz’s legal team 1,200 pages of documents that had not been previously produced through the discovery process.

Nolan and Bubeck’s attorney Kyle Wood did not return requests for comment.

“The stipulation of confidentiality was signed in January 2024 and still no documents were provided by any defendant until May 2024, when Mr. Nolan hand delivered same to our office, not the County,” Brewington said. 

Police said in February 2021 that Cruz had stolen a Jeep Grand Cherokee and used it to ram a police car at a Coram gas station. Cruz fled but crashed into a snowbank in Mount Sinai before ramming another police vehicle, authorities said. The lawsuit alleges Cruz was attempting to leave the gas station when his vehicle was struck by a police car. Cruz fled the scene but later surrendered and was pulled from his vehicle and handcuffed. He was then kicked, punched and pushed to the ground, according to the lawsuit.

A 2021 Newsday investigation cast doubts on the police account of the incident. Criminal justice experts who reviewed surveillance video said it contradicted an officer's sworn accusation that Cruz rammed his police car while trying to flee from a Coram gas station. The experts said the officer, Frank Filiberto, may have filed a false report. 

Suffolk prosecutors in June 2021 dropped three of five charges filed against Cruz. Cruz pleaded guilty to petit larceny in September 2022 and was sentenced to time served.