FBI agents raided the home of a Bayonne, New Jersey police officer on the morning of Jan. 23, arresting Domenico Lillo, 44, for incident of alleged police brutality. He was released on $100,000 bond that afternoon and intends to contest the charges, his attorney said on Jan. 24.
In Dec. 2013, Lillo allegedly beat a handcuffed arrestee with a flashlight and sprayed his mother and children with pepper spray after forcibly entering the home. The arrestee, 26-year-old Brandon Walsh, says his face is now permanently disfigured from the beating. He and his family, who claim they became ill from overexposure to pepper spray, filed suit in Nov. 2014.
In the arrest report, Lillo recorded that Walsh resisted arrest and attempted to assault him and other officers. Walsh’s injuries, which required immediate medical attention, occurred after he pulled away from police, the report reads, causing Walsh to fall against a brick wall and tripping another officer who landed on his face. The report makes no mention of pepper spray.
The FBI states Lillo knowingly withheld information on a ?Department Use of Force Report? record on the arrest. The official charges are deprivation of civil rights and falsification of police records.
Lillo’s lawyer questions the FBI’s role in this case. Attorney Frank Arleo told The Jersey Journal:
“Cases in which criminal defendants allege police brutality are fairly common. Yet, the case was taken away from the Hudson County Prosecutor. It makes you wonder if there is something else at play here.??
Officer Lillo was a defendant in another civil claim from 2007 when he and four other officers were sued for assault on two men. The lawsuit was settled for $100,000 in 2011 under terms of confidentiality.
