NY Suburban Cop Suspect in Death of Illegal Alien

[tommy meehan]

The following incident seems more like something that would happen in a dusty Texas border town than in a swanky New York City suburb. I compiled the information below from local news reports-

BEDFORD NY– Village of Bedford (NY) police are investigating the death of a 42-year-old homeless man, Rene Perez, who entered the United States illegally from Guatemala about twelve years ago. A motorist spotted Perez late Saturday April 28th as he lay dying along a desolate section of Byram Lake Road in Bedford, a northern suburb of New York City. He was unconscious when he was rushed to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where he died. A police officer from the neighboring village of Mount Kisco is a suspect in Perez’s death.

Perez, who moved to the United States about 12 years ago, was homeless and living behind a Mt. Kisco A&P. He had a known drinking problem and had been arrested at least 59 times by Mount Kisco police for disorderly conduct, public lewdness and other minor offenses.

Police gave this account of Perez’s movements in the hours before he was found dying-

About 8:30 p.m. on the Saturday evening Perez died, Bedford police responded to a call at a Kohl's department store. They found Rene Perez in the store, obviously intoxicated and causing a disturbance. Perez was not arrested and, although drunk, did not need medical care. Officers John Evans and Drew Thierstein offered Perez a ride to Mount Kisco. He thanked them when they dropped him off at Route 117 and Main Street in Mount Kisco at 8:43 p.m., Menzel said.

Perez had a second encounter with police about two hours later. According to Mount Kisco police, at 10:47 p.m. the department received a call from a laundromat in the village’s shopping district. The desk officer described the caller as an Hispanic man who was slurring his words. The desk officer could not understand what he was saying and dispatched police Officer George Bubaris to the scene. Two other Mount Kisco officers -- Lt. Edward Dunnigan and Officer Edward Dwyer – also responded. The officers cleared the call about 10:55 p.m. after determining that Perez didn't have a police matter.

A few minutes later Dunnigan and Dwyer were dispatched on another police call, while Officer Bubaris resumed routine patrol. About forty-five minutes later Perez was found by the motorist unconsious on a lonely stretch of suburban highway about six miles from the laundromat. The location is in Bedford, just yards from the Mt. Kisco town line.

Because his body was found in Bedford, Bedford police are the lead investigative agency. As part of their investigation the Bedford police took the unusual step of impounding the Mt. Kisco police cruisers driven by Officers Bubaris and Dwyer in an effort to find forensic evidence that Perez had been in either car. Mt Kisco police are also investigating the death and the two departments are said to be cooperating.

An autopsy found the likely cause of death was internal bleeding, the result of a tear to the mesentery, a membrane that links the intestines to the abdominal wall. The injury was most likely caused by Perez having been "struck" in the abdomen, Bedford’s police chief said. "We do believe he was struck and we are continuing to work in that direction," Police Chief Christian Menzel said as he described Rene Perez's internal injuries as severe.

The local newspaper, the Westchester Journal-News, interviewed noted pathologist Dr. Frederick Zugibe, who said the mesentery can be torn when there is a solid blow to the abdomen. "A tear in that can cause major bleeding," said Zugibe, a retired chief medical examiner of Rockland County. "It can be from a punch or a kick, but it doesn't have to be from a beating - someone can fall on a rock or something." Authorities have said there was no sign of trauma or external injuries to that area of Perez's body, and Zugibe said that was more consistent with being hit with a flat fist or heel rather than a sharp object.

The results of the forensic testing of the police cars are still pending. As of today the investigation has produced no solid leads.

[dallasvic]

:seeya: Hi Tommy,

Your new ? Well let me be the first to WELCOME you to CL.Alot of good people here!!! If you need help just ask everyone is willing to HELP.
Have you learned how to give rep's for good and bad post? If not let me know and i will be HAPPY TO HELP!!!!;)
This is a good story so I gave you positive rep's. If you find new up dates keep me informed and i will do the same. I read all my subscribed post and look for updates dailey.
That poor man came here 12 yrs ago I am sure searching for that American Dream and see where it got him. He someones father, uncle or brother. I hope they find out exactly what happen and if he has family back home that I am sure is missing him.
:seeya: Later

[tommy meehan]

:seeya: thank you dallasvic!!! Very nice of you to welcome me and much appreciated.

Yes I've been a regular reader of CL for quite a while and wanted to post information on the incident in New York. For one thing, when's the last time you heard of a police department seizing and searching police cars of a neighboring department??? I give the Bedford cops a lotta credit, restores some of my faith in the men in blue!

Yes you're also right about Mr. Perez. Very sad.

The local paper sent a reporter to his town in Guatamala -- his body was flown home -- and visited with his family, his mother, wife and daughters. They were very confused about how he died and stunned to learn an American policeman might be involved.

Reading about his family I got an insight into the despair and pain Perez must've been feeling over his losing battle with alcoholism. Apparently when he first came to the US he worked steadily and sent money home. But then he started drinking and fell into alcoholism. I feel very sorry for everyone involved. The reporter wrote that in his Guatamalan town, many residents have husbands or brothers or fathers in the US who have sent money home in amounts that really helped lift their families' standard of living. Sadly, Mr. Perez's family still lives in the clay-walled adobe hut they lived in the day he left twelve years ago. I'm sure Mr. Perez felt a lot of shame and anger at himself because of his drinking problem, knowing how he was letting his family down. I guess it becomes a vicous cycle.

He did go into treatment programs several times too, and the program providers said he was very cooperative and successful in refraining from alcohol. But only while he was in treatment. Once he was back on the street he started drinking again.

I know some people would say 'Oh he was only a worthless drunken illegal' but for me that's too harsh. I believe in that old saying, 'There but for the grace of God.........'

There are a few new developments which I will post here as soon as I find the time.

[dallasvic]

thank you dallasvic!!! Very nice of you to welcome me and much appreciated.

Yes I've been a regular reader of CL for quite a while and wanted to post information on the incident in New York. For one thing, when's the last time you heard of a police department seizing and searching police cars of a neighboring department??? I give the Bedford cops a lotta credit, restores some of my faith in the men in blue!

Yes you're also right about Mr. Perez. Very sad.

The local paper sent a reporter to his town in Guatamala -- his body was flown home -- and visited with his family, his mother, wife and daughters. They were very confused about how he died and stunned to learn an American policeman might be involved.

Reading about his family I got an insight into the despair and pain Perez must've been feeling over his losing battle with alcoholism. Apparently when he first came to the US he worked steadily and sent money home. But then he started drinking and fell into alcoholism. I feel very sorry for everyone involved. The reporter wrote that in his Guatamalan town, many residents have husbands or brothers or fathers in the US who have sent money home in amounts that really helped lift their families' standard of living. Sadly, Mr. Perez's family still lives in the clay-walled adobe hut they lived in the day he left twelve years ago. I'm sure Mr. Perez felt a lot of shame and anger at himself because of his drinking problem, knowing how he was letting his family down. I guess it becomes a vicous cycle.

He did go into treatment programs several times too, and the program providers said he was very cooperative and successful in refraining from alcohol. But only while he was in treatment. Once he was back on the street he started drinking again.

I know some people would say 'Oh he was only a worthless drunken illegal' but for me that's too harsh. I believe in that old saying, 'There but for the grace of God.........'

There are a few new developments which I will post here as soon as I find the time.
Hi,
Yes it me again.
:rose: MY Heart & Prayers Are With His Family:rose:
Thanks for all the info and will appreciate you keeping me up to date. Looking forward to posting with you here at CL. Regardless if he was a man that drank he is still someone father , brother uncle,etc.He surly did not deserve to die by the hands of a stranger.
I was wondering what your favorite subject is? Also feel free to pm me anytime you might what to talk about what ever I am open to just about anything here at CL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:seeya: Later

[tommy meehan]

Among recent developments in the investigation into the death of undocumented Guatemalan immigrant Renee Perez, who was found dying from internal bleeding on the side of a lonely suburban highway just before midnight on April 28th, are the following (again compiled from local news sources)-


Bedford (NY) police investigating the death of an undocumented Guatemalan immigrant admitted recently that the involvement of one or more Mt Kisco (NY) police officers is being looked at

Bedford Police Chief Christian Menzel confirmed that Mount Kisco officers were under investigation. "We are trying to account for time in certain officers of the Mount Kisco Police Department," Menzel said. When asked if it was believed the officers were involved in Perez's death, Menzel answered: "Unfortunately, we have not ruled that out at this point. We have not ruled it in or out."

Among concerns are-

1) Officer George Bubaris responded to a call from Rene Perez at a Mt Kisco laundromat and is possibly the last person known to have seen Perez before he was found dying.

2) Records show Bubaris wasn't sent on another call until 11:39 p.m. - about four minutes after Perez was found unconscious on Byram Lake Road in Bedford.

3) The location where Perez was found dying was too far from the laundromat -- about six miles -- for Perez to have covered it walking in the forty minutes that elasped AFTER he was seen by the Mt. Kisco police..


4) The fact the body was placed just outside the Mt Kisco town boundary is also of concern.

Bedford police also came in contact with Perez earlier the night he died, escorting him from a department store in Bedford after he caused a disturbance there about 8:30 p.m. But, the chief said, Perez could not have endured his fatal injuries for long, meaning the Bedford officers didn't inflict them. "We certainly checked out that possibility, and that was ruled out," he said.

Finally, questions have been raised as to the possibility that Perez was murdered by a serial killer. This concern has been voiced, including within the local Hispanic community, because the Perez murder bears some similarities to a pair of earlier killings of Guatemalan men in Mt. Kisco. In 2004, Roberto Martinez, 42, was found dead at a construction site hours after being seen at a local eatery. In 2003, Santos Bojorguez was found dead behind a phone company office building in Mt. Kisco. Both men were reported to have been drinking in the hours before they disappeared from the streets of Mt. Kisco. Unlike Perez who suffered suffered internal injuries, Martinez and Bojorguez were strangled.

Bedford Police Lt. Robert Mazurak said detectives have not ruled out the possibility Perez's death might be linked to the earlier killings. "That's a possibility, but that's not high on our list now," Mazurak said

[tommy meehan]

Reporters visited the Woodside Queens house owned by George Bubaris, the 30-year-old Mount Kisco (NY) police officer being investigated in the death of immigrant Rene Perez. The man who answered the door at the Woodside residence said Bubaris had been a New York City police officer for about five years before transferring to the Mount Kisco department. He said Bubaris owned the Woodside house but had moved out about a year ago.

Next reporters interviewed Gus Bubaris, George Bubaris’ father. His son had complained about problems with Rene Perez, his father said. "He told me he got him [arrested Perez] six times before because he was drunk," Gus Bubaris told the Journal News, adding "(Perez) was a bad guy." George Bubaris has not spoken about the case, but Gus Bubaris defended his son in a telephone interview with a reporter.

"Of course he didn't do it," Gus Bubaris said, when asked if his son had assaulted Perez and then dumped his body on the lonely stretch of road where Perez was found dying. He said his son called him the other day and told him about the investigation. "He said the other town made a mistake. He said they took his car."

As federal authorities joined the probe, lawyers for the two police officers under investigation spoke out for the first time. They questioned whether Perez’s death was actually a homicide in the first place. The lawyer for Officer Bubaris suggested the drunken vagrant may have been injured before he crossed paths with the village officers. The lawyer said he had information that a woman at the Mount Kisco laundry where Perez was last seen reported that Perez complained of stomach pains before calling 911. That perhaps that was the reason Perez had summoned police to the laundry.

"How my client would know if this man was as injured as he was, I don't know," said Hollis Griffin, Bubaris' lawyer. Perez spoke only limited English and and the officers who dealt with him did not speak Spanish.

When reporters asked directly if Bubaris drove Perez out to Byram Lake Road that night, Griffin would not answer.

John Grant, the lawyer for Officer Edward Dwyer, said that with an alcoholic like Perez, the fatal injury could have occurred from a fall, or if he walked into a protruding object such as a branch.

[tommy meehan]

Late on the evening of April 28th undocumented immigrant Rene Perez was found dying along a lonely suburban highway. The cause of death was internal bleeding from an intestinal rupture. When it was discovered that Perez -- homeless, alcoholic and with a long arrest record for minor offenses -- had an encounter with three Mt. Kisco police officers some 40 minutes before being found dying, questions were raised as to the officers' role in his death if any.

In the past 48 hours there have been some noteworthy developments. Local news reports-

Two witnesses have come forward to tell the Westchester Journal News they didn't see police rough up homeless immigrant Rene Perez during an encounter at a local laundry shortly before he was found mortally injured. One of the witnesses, 37 year-old Zoila Perez (no relation to Rene Perez) said Perez was still at the laundromat when police left.

Zoila Perez said Rene Perez had a bag with food while at the laundromat but remarked he had no appetite, Ms. Perez said, “because he said his stomach was bothering him." She said Rene Perez then went to the rear of the laundry, where he used a public telephone to call 911.

22-year-old Elmer Olinter Soto said he was one of about a half-dozen people in the small laundry and he confirmed Ms. Perez’s account. Soto said that after calling 911 from the pay phone Rene Perez walked outside and sat waiting for police to arrive.

Both Zoila Perez and Soto say they saw the officers engage Rene Perez in conversation.

"They were just checking him," Soto told the Journal News. "They had him up against the police car and frisked him." Soto said when he left the laundromat the officers were still there and so was Zoila Perez.

Ms. Perez described how the encounter ended. "The police….dealt with him outside, and then they left," she recalled. She added that when she left the laundromat several minutes later, Rene Perez “was still there."

Lawyers for Mt. Kisco police officers Bubaris and Dwyer said yesterday that the newspaper interviews support their version of the night's events. "I think this kind of confirms what we've been saying all along," said John Grant, Officer Dwyer's attorney. "These officers aren't unsympathetic to this guy's situation," Grant said of Perez. "But they certainly had nothing to do with it."

In the meantime with the Westchester County district attorney’s office now leading the investigation (assisted by the FBI) friction may be developing between the local police department investigating events (Bedford) and the one whose officers have been under suspicion (Mt. Kisco).

Acting Mount Kisco Police Chief Louis Terlizzi says he has offered several times to have Spanish-speaking officers review a video surveillance tape that Bedford police seized from the laundry, but Bedford has turned down the offer.

Mount Kisco Deputy Mayor Peter DiChiara said , "We want to do everything we possibly can to identify witnesses…including using our own Spanish-speaking officers who are familiar with the community to help identify potential witnesses." DiChiara said. "We would just identify the witnesses and let [Bedford] interview them. I don't want to step on anyone's toes. We're just interested in finding the truth."

[tommy meehan]

In the five weeks after illegal alien Rene Perez was found dying alongside a lonely suburban highway -- less than forty minutes after an encounter with three local policemen -- investigators have made little headway. The Westchester County District Attorney's office has taken a lead role in the investigation and says the case is still active. This past Friday DA investigators asked to interview the three Mt. Kisco (NY) police officers who responded to a call from Perez less than forty minutes before he was found mortally injured. However the officers refused to submit to interviews. The officers want to answer questions and cooperate, their lawyers say, but the DA's office is not acting in good faith.

"They're not making it easy for our guys," said John Grant, lawyer for one of the three Mt Kisco cops. "They just want to do it their way. We've given them a lot of information so that they [DA investigators] can feel comfortable that the officers [we] represent couldn't have been involved in anything."

Meantime, the lawyer for a relative of the dead man says he reviewed the laundromat tape and what he saw contradicted witness accounts. Jonthan Leavitt, lawyer for one of Rene Perez's brothers, says in the tape Perez is seen eating from what appears to be a container of Chinese food. Witnesses, both Latino patrons in the laundry, said Perez had complained his stomach was bothering him and he could not eat. Leavitt says on the tape Perez showed no sign of illness or discomfort.

Without a witness, a confession or 'smoking gun' type forensic evidence, this case may be a tough one to solve. The key question seems to be, how did Perez get from the laundromat to the lonely desolate stretch of highway -- a distance of six miles, much further than the intoxicated Perez could've walked in thirty minutes or less-- where he was found unconsciousness? If police can unravel that one they will probably crack the case.

Is it possible Perez's injury -- an intestinal rupture -- was the result of an accidental fall, as a former medical examiner suggested was possible? Did someone offer to take Perez to a hospital or doctor, then panic when Perez lost consciousness and leave him by the side of the highway? Or did the three Mt. Kisco police rough him up and then dump an unconscious Perez just outside their jurisdiction?

As of now, no one knows.

[tommy meehan]

This investigation is not dead. There have been some new developments in this case and they point to possible police involvement as well as police misconduct. When I have a little more time I will relay particulars from the local news coverage.

[wetibbe]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lawyer of cop in Perez probe says he hasn't seen video of squad car
By JORGE FITZ-GIBBON AND SHAWN COHEN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: August 8, 2007)

MOUNT KISCO - The lawyer for a police officer under investigation in the death of a homeless immigrant would not say yesterday whether his client's squad car was the one reportedly on a surveillance tape near the crime scene.

But attorney Edward Hayes said that Mount Kisco Police Officer George Bubaris - one of three officers being probed in the April 29 death of Rene Javier Perez - did nothing wrong.

"He denies hurting the guy," Hayes said. "He denies doing anything illegal. But he's not going to comment about individual accusations because I don't know anything about this tape. I've never seen this tape."

On its evening newscast Monday, CBS-TV reported that a security camera outside the Bedford estate of financier Nelson Peltz taped a Mount Kisco police car on Byram Lake Road, not far from where Perez was found dying.

Perez, 42, a homeless immigrant from Guatemala, was found less than an hour after making a drunken 911 call from a Mount Kisco laundry April 28.

He died at Westchester Medical Center early the next day.

Rumors since have circulated about a surveillance tape near the scene. But Mount Kisco village officials said yesterday they had not seen such a tape.

"I would love to know more about the allegation that there was a Mount Kisco police car down at the scene because I'd like to know how that's corroborated," Village Attorney Whitney Singleton said.

"We don't have any information of that sort," he said. "I'm not saying it did or did not occur. But if they have information that the public is being told through the news media, we would like to know that information as well."

Mayor Michael Cindrich called it "frustrating" that details of the probe aren't being shared.

"We want answers," he said. "The entire community wants answers."

Police in Bedford and Mount Kisco declined to comment on the CBS report, as did the Westchester District Attorney's Office.

The Westchester district attorney and Bedford police are among those investigating the death of Perez.

Perez's death was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner, who determined he died from internal abdominal injuries.

Investigators said the three Mount Kisco officers who responded to Perez's 911 call prior to his death are part of the probe.

Two of the squad cars driven by the officers that night were temporarily impounded by detectives as part of the investigation.

The three officers - Lt. Edward Dunnigan and officers Edward Dwyer and Bubaris - remain on modified duty.

Hayes, Bubaris' lawyer, said he would not discuss details of the ongoing investigation.

But he said that if there is a videotape it still proves little.

"I guess somehow I feel that a surveillance tape from a private house is not likely to make a conclusive identification of any particular car," he said. "I've never seen any that are accurate."

"It might show a police car," he said. "But so what?"



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Financier Nelson Peltz estate

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/wetibbe/NelsonPeltzestate.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/wetibbe/NelsonPeltzestate.jpg

The pin on the left is at the entrance to a conspicuously affluent gated property. There is a complex with many cars parked. The large Arthur W. Butler Sanctuary is just to the North. If there were surveillance cameras on those gates or adjacent walls they sure were good at taking pictures in the dark half an hour before midnight..

RNN TV news video:

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=VIDEO01

Perez was found around the lake 100 yards from the North Castle Town line 4 miles or so from Mount Kiscos main thru highway.

The apparent time line doesn't seem to provide an opporunity for George Bubaris to have round tripped 8 miles from the laundromat. Perez was last seen about 11:10 PM at the laundromat. All police had already left according to eye witnesses. Perez was found about 11:40 PM 4 miles away.

George Bubaris had already responded to another call and was at an apartment with another officer according to an RNN TV video that can be seen here on the LO HUd website video collections.

The North Castle police car passed the location on Byram Lake Road 25 minutes before Perez was found. The New Castle police were also reported to have been on Byram Lake Road that evening. So it seems there are no less that three police cars on the road that evening !!!

Perez was not "murdered". He already had a well established problem with the membrane *( mesentry ) that attaches the lower intestines to the abdomen. Blood vessels ruptured and he bled to death internally. The Valhalla Medical Center did not diagnose his symptoms in time to save him. There was NO evidence of blunt trama. His condition is well recognized medically and many people have died from it. The Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco treated him many times and undoubtedly his medical records will show this ongoing problem for many years.

On the night Perez was at the laundromat he was displaying the typical symptoms of his problem and complaining about them, loss of appetite, stomach pains.

Bill Tibbe

[tommy meehan]

The investigation into the death of homeless and alcoholic illegal immigrant Rene Perez continues. Meanwhile the Westchester County (NY) District Attorney's office has begun to present evidence to a Grand Jury.

One of the most startling of recent developments was a WCBS-TV report that investigators had identified a Mt Kisco police car as being in the vicinity where Perez was found, shortly before passing motorists spotted his body. In another development, in the past Mt. Kisco police have driven Perez to the neighboring town of Bedford Hills after finding him intoxicated in Mt Kisco. Though Mt. Kisco police at first refused a media request to see these reports, they were turned over following the filing of a Freedom of Information Act request.

But like so much of this case, the evidence remains ambiguous.

Despite the TV news report that cops had positively identified a Mt. Kisco police car assigned to Officer George Bubaris -- the chief suspect -- driving past an estate video surveillance camera, the Westchester (NY) Journal News was told by a NY State official the tape is inconclusive. The source told the Journal News the quality of the video forwarded to the state crime lab was "very poor" and no vehicle dentification was possible.

Earlier, after hearing that Officer Bubaris' patrol car was postively identified , his lawyer told the Journal News, that "there's so many ways the guy could've died" that "it's not fair" to blame Officer Bubaris. He also claimed Mt. Kisco police had saved Perez life "hundreds and hundreds of times..." It was speculated that this sounded close to an admission the officer was involved in some heretofore undisclosed way.

Officer Bubaris encountered Perez at a village laundromat about 45 minutes before Perez was found dying by the side of a lonely road four miles away. With Bubaris at the laundromat were two other Mt. Kisco cops. All three have remained on restricted duty since the April incident.

The other two police officers are not considered suspects since they were dispatched to another police call only minutes after encountering an intoxicated Rene Perez. They have been summoned to testify before the Grand Jury and have been granted immunity. Officer Bubaris -- who remained on patrol for over thirty minutes after encountering Perez, his whereabouts unclear -- has not been offered immunity.

His lawyer told the Journal News he was unconcerned with the other two officers being granted immunity because they "can't say anything that would hurt us." It is unclear whether Bubaris will testify.

Bubaris is originally a New York City police officer who joined the suburban Mt. Kisco force about a year ago. While speaking with reporters his lawyer was said to have made a special point that Bubaris' fiance is Hispanic, apparently to refute suspicions the incident may be racially motivated. Perez was Latino, the three officers are all white.

The Grand Jury will continue hearing evidence next week.

[tommy meehan]

The suburban New York police officer suspected in the death of illegal alien Rene Perez has been indicted and arraigned. Mount Kisco (NY) Police Officer George Bubaris was charged Thursday in Westchester County Supreme Court on manslaughter-2nd degree, unlawful imprisonment and official misconduct. Bubaris was led into court in handcuffs.

The charges suggest authorities suspect it was Officer Bubaris who drove Perez to the area where he was found dying. After arraignment Bubaris posted $100,000 bail.

On the night of April 28 Bubaris and two other Mount Kisco officers responded to Perez' drunken call for assistance at a village laundry. Bubaris told police headquarters it was not a police matter and the other officers, Edward Dwyer and Lt. Edward Dunnigan, went on another call. The 42-year-old Perez was found unconscious four miles away on a remote stretch of Byram Lake Road in neighboring Bedford 40 minutes later.

Perez died early the next morning at Westchester Medical Center and the medical examiner's office determined Perez died from internal bleeding caused by a torn mesentery and ruled the death a homicide

Bubaris' lawyer, Edward Hayes, has refused to comment on whether Perez was in Bubaris' police car that night. But he said his client "had done nothing" to mistreat Perez. Hayes called the charges excessive and maintains authorities cannot even prove Perez death was a homicide.

The investigation has brought out it was fairly common practice for police in this wealthy suburban area to transport drunken or disorderly vagrants and illegal aliens to points in another police department's jurisdiction. Earlier on the night of Perez' death, Bedord police had been summoned to a local retail store on complaint Perez was drunk and disorderly. Bedford police transported him to Mt. Kisco, they admitted, as "a courtesy" after Perez requested it. The spot where Perez was found dying several hours later was just inside the Bedford town line.

[tommy meehan]

A Mt Kisco (NY) police officer has apparently told investigators that fellow officer George Bubaris was involved in the death of Rene Perez, the illegal Hispanic immigrant found dying alongside a lonely suburban road. Less than an hour earlier Perez had called Mt. Kisco police for help. The unidentified officer told investigators that Officer Bubaris -- in a lockerroom confession the day after Perez was found -- said he'd "gone out hunting" for Perez, took him in his police car and dropped him off on a desolate section of Byram Lake Road just over the town line in neighboring Bedford.

From the sound of it, Mt. Kisco police -- at least some of them -- have known from the very start that Officer Bubaris was involved. Worse, Bubaris apparently lied from the very outset of the investigation. As is often the case, in retrospect Bubaris' biggest mistake was in trying to coverup his actions. Once he made the decision to lie about events and his role, he was doomed, at least legally. Another problem facing Bubaris and his attorney will be convincing a jury that, while it was immediately apparent to passing motorists that Perez was seriously ill, it was not evident to Bubaris when he dumped him on the side of the road minutes earlier.

Below is an excerpt from the story which appeared in the Westchester (NY) Journal News on Sept. 21, 2007:

MOUNT KISCO - The village police officer charged in the death of homeless immigrant Rene Perez told a fellow officer he "went out hunting" for Perez and "gave him a ride up to Byram Lake Road" in Bedford the night he was found dying there, according to court records obtained by the [Westchester New York] Journal News.

In the locker room at police headquarters the next day, George Bubaris told the other officer that "you're the only one who knows, bro," according to the court records.

The documents reveal statements alleged to have been made by Bubaris that prosecutors intend to use against him at trial.

A grand jury charged Bubaris, 30, with second-degree manslaughter two weeks ago, finding that he recklessly caused Perez's death in April. He was also charged with unlawful imprisonment and official misconduct. It ended the four-month probe into the death of the troublesome Guatemalan immigrant, a known vagrant who had hundreds of run-ins with police in Mount Kisco and Bedford and had been arrested in those communities dozens of times.
Bubaris, Police Officer Edward Dwyer and Lt. Edward Dunnigan went to a laundry on Lexington Avenue after a drunken Perez called 911 at 10:42 p.m. April 28 complaining of stomach pain and asking to go to a hospital.

While there, according to the documents, Bubaris told the others something to the effect of: "It's Rene Perez. This is his new thing. He calls 911 and asks for help (or medical assistance), and there's nothing wrong with him. I had a call with him recently, and he did the same thing. He called 911 for no reason, and we sent him on his way. What should we do? Are we going to bring him somewhere or take him somewhere?"

At 10:55 p.m., Bubaris called headquarters and closed the call, saying it was not a police matter.

Dwyer and Dunnigan then responded to a report of an injured woman, and remained on that call until 11:35 p.m. Bubaris' whereabouts for the next 44 minutes are not reflected in police records because he had no other call until he joined Dwyer on another call on Stewart Place at 11:39 p.m.

According to the documents, it was there that Bubaris told Dwyer something to the effect of: "While you and Dunnigan were on that aided call, I went out hunting (or looking) around for Rene (Perez), and I ran into him and I gave him a ride up to Byram Lake Road or down to Byram Lake Road or Byram Lake."

It was around that time that motorists called 911 to report finding a man lying on the road. "We thought he's dead. But I don't think he is. We got like a moan out of him," the caller told a state police dispatcher.

At about 9:45 p.m. on April 29, according to the documents, Bubaris allegedly explained his interaction with Perez the night before this way:

I was dispatched to a 911 call at the Lexington Avenue Laundromat. Police Officer Dwyer and Lieutenant Dunnigan also responded. I found Perez in front of the building slumped over a Dumpster. I went inside the Laundromat to find someone who spoke English and Spanish. I could not find anyone to help so I went back outside. It was determined it was not a police matter and Perez left the scene walking towards Radio Circle.

It was unclear which police heard that statement. Bubaris at that time made no mention of later picking up Perez and driving him to Byram Lake.

Prosecutors have not explained how they believe Perez incurred his physical injuries. But they will likely use that statement by Bubaris to show that the officer knew Perez was in bad shape but disregarded the risk that he could die if he was left on a remote road and not given assistance.

Bubaris' lawyer, Edward Hayes, said that if Bubaris did make them it did not prove anything. "Giving Rene Perez a ride is not a crime," he said. "If it is, then every cop in Mount Kisco and Bedford is guilty of a crime." "The thing about it is, there was a lieutenant and a much more experienced cop that was with George around 10:30 I think, that said don't arrest him and don't bring him to the hospital. That's their decision," Hayes said.

Bubaris is free on bail and remains suspended without pay.