By Steven Cook The Daily Gazette
ALBANY, N.Y. — A Schenectady parolee has filed suit against the city and three police officers, alleging false arrest and excessive force among other claims. Alexander Marcano, 32, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Albany last week over his arrest in January 2011.
Marcano alleges he suffered injuries at the hands of city police officers after they caught up with him in a chase. Marcano fled, but officers had no probable cause to stop him, the suit alleges.
Officers restrained Marcano with their hands and then with handcuffs, punching him several times before and after the handcuffs were put on him, according to the lawsuit.
"Plaintiff was punched a total of 6-7 times in the face and head," the suit reads.
A third officer then arrived and "stomped on Plaintiff’s face and head with his foot."
Marcano contends that he suffered various cuts and bruises to his face and head, along with injuries to his back and neck.
Named as defendants are the city of Schenectady and officers Michael Hudson, Ryan Kent and Anthony Savignano.
Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said Wednesday he was unfamiliar with the case and couldn’t comment. City Corporation Counsel John Polster could not be reached for comment. Attorney Brian Matula, who represents Marcano, declined comment Wednesday beyond what was in the suit.
The suit alleges that officers, after taking Marcano into custody, questioned him about an unrelated incident that he had nothing to do with. He was not charged in that incident, but was charged with resisting, obstruction and assault, all related to the chase.
All the charges were later dropped, according to the lawsuit. Marcano was, however, ultimately sent back to prison on a parole violation when an administrative law judge found he violated his conditions of parole by not allowing officers to question him and placing himself and others in danger by fleeing.
According to state records, Marcano was on parole from a 1997 first-degree robbery conviction in Schenectady County for which he received a sentence of nine to 18 years.
The conviction stemmed from a St. Patrick’s Day 1996 shooting at the Cumberland Farms at State and Elm streets, newspaper records indicate. Marcano admitted then to shooting at a store clerk twice during a robbery, with one shot grazing the clerk’s head. The clerk was not seriously injured.
Marcano has been in custody since his January 2011 arrest. He could be released on the parole violation as early as May.
Copyright 2012 The Daily Gazette Co.
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