Putnam County settled case involving alleged mistreatment of suspect
By Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong
Investigator A. Gerald Schramek, a high-ranking Putnam County Sheriff’s Department official connected to detective-work involving Philipstown, resigned effective Feb. 14, after allegations of mistreatment of a suspect and a $35,000 settlement of those claims, ratified by the Putnam County Legislature in December.
Capt. William McNamara of the Sheriff’s Department on Thursday morning (Feb. 12) confirmed Schramek’s plans to depart, after about 12 years of service. As the chief of the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, Schramek oversaw various local cases — such as the probe into a burglary at the Haldane Central School District and a violent attack on motorcycle club members just outside Cold Spring, both in 2013, and a Haldane trash fire in 2014.
However, Kenneth W. DeFreitas, facing robbery charges, accused two Sheriff’s Department investigators of beating him in Carmel on July 3, 2014, while in their custody — reportedly after DeFreitas tried to seize one investigator’s gun.
The two investigators were identified as Schramek and Patrick Castaldo, who retired from the Sheriff’s Department in latter 2014.
Michelle Carter, a public information officer on the staff of Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy, said the DeFreitas incident remains under review by Levy’s office. “There is an investigation, but until it’s complete I can’t confirm any [details],” she told Philipstown.info/The Paper on Thursday.
McNamara observed that “there’s still an open administrative investigation” in the Sheriff’s Department as well.
At their Dec. 22 year-end meeting, members of the county legislature unanimously approved the $35,000 for DeFreitas after he initiated court action seeking a financial recovery, claiming he had been subject to “use of excessive force and a violation of his civil rights,” according to the legislature.
The county’s legal department and the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal (NYMIR), an agency for local governments, recommended the settlement, which the legislature stated, in a resolution, “is in the public interest and has avoided the costs of further litigation.”
Photos from Putnam County Sheriff’s Department
