Officer cleared of assault in arrest outside New York bar

MINEOLA, N.Y. – A police officer has been acquitted of assault and other charges during a violent arrest outside a New York bar.

Rockville Centre Officer Anthony Federico’s lawyer says his client was merely defending himself against an unruly mob.

A Nassau County state Supreme Court judge cleared Federico Tuesday of all charges. His lawyer, William Petrillo, says everything Federico did “was reasonable and responsive to the attack” he faced.

Federico was dispatched in May 2016 to a brawl outside the Long Island bar.

Prosecutors said Federico used excessive force by hitting then 25-year-old Kevin Kavanagh in the head with his stun gun while Kavanagh was on the ground, then filed false paperwork about the head injury.

Petrillo said Kavanagh had hit Federico in the face and later grabbed the officer in a headlock.