One of two Rochester Police officers involved in the Christopher Pate Police Brutality Case has been indicted on a charge of third-degree assault.
Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley says evidence against Officers Michael Sipple and Spencer McAvoy was submitted to a grand jury after an investigation that began in August. The grand jury didn’t indict McAvoy, but indicted Sipple on the misdemeanor assault charge.
Officer Sipple will be arraigned in Rochester City Court on November 15th.
The President of the patrol officers union….Mike Mazzeo of the Locust Club…says the trial will let Officer Sipple tell his side of what happened. He said the officers thought they had the wanted man and asked if officers shouldn’t go after wanted suspects.
The Rochester Police Department and the City of Rochester formally apologized to Christopher Pate, who suffered broken facial bones and a jaw injury when he was stopped by Sipple and McAvoy who thought he might be a suspect they were looking for. Pate said he was handcuffed, beaten and tased after showing the officers his ID, proving he wasn’t the wanted man.
The Reverend Lewis Stewart of United Christian Leadership Ministries publicized the case of Christopher Pate earlier this year, and says now that he’s disappointed with the grand jury
Outcome. Although he believes it does send a message, Stewart says both officers should have been charged with felony assault.