"ANOTHER COP GOES BAD"

"BADGE OF DISHONOR"

Officer Arrested and Indicted on Assault Charge

October 21, 2003
   By Michael Randall
   Times Herald-Record
   mrandall@th-record.com
   
Newburgh – A town police officer indicted last week in an assault on a suspect after a June car chase has been placed on modified duty, police Chief Charles Kehoe said yesterday.
 

Kehoe said Officer William McLean will be assigned to his office staff at police headquarters until the court case is resolved. McLean will remain in uniform and will be paid his regular salary, the amount of which could not be learned yesterday.
 

McLean, 35, of Montgomery, was arraigned in Ulster County Court last week on a charge of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor. He pleaded not guilty and was released pending further court action.
 

Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams said an investigation found McLean repeatedly kicked Robert Stahli, 35, of Modena, breaking the bone around one of his eyes, after state troopers and Marlborough town police already had caught Stahli and had him facedown on the ground.
 

Stahli allegedly refused to pull over June 2 when Newburgh town police tried to stop him for traffic violations. He led police on a 20-mile chase north into the Town of Plattekill before he was caught.
 

Stahli, who was charged with drunken driving following the chase, is serving one to three years in state prison. The sentence covered that charge and an unrelated drunken driving charge.

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