William Karasik said the acting gun range master pointed a gun at the back of his head as part of the retaliation for his reporting of a sexual misconduct incident involving a detective
SPARTA -- Back in 2001, former Sparta police officer William Karasik said, he and a fellow officer saw a detective sergeant put his hands down the blouse of a records clerk and publicly fondle her breasts, according to a state appeals court decision.
(Sparta police) After reporting the misconduct, the court said, he and the other officer became the target of years of "harassing conduct" by fellow officers that became so intense he was required to have a police escort while in the station house.
It culminated in incidents in 2003, the court said, when the department's acting firearms range master would sit directly behind Karasik in a chair and "play" with his gun, brushing it against the back of Karasik's head and making comments such as, "We've heard about cops getting shot by other cops."
Karasik was terminated from his job in 2004, the court wrote, and since then has been involved in continuous litigation.
Immediately after his discharge, Karasik and the unnamed fellow officer filed a "retaliatory discharge claim" under the whistleblower act and in 2010, a court judgment of $1.9 million was entered for Karasik and the other officer.
Under a provision of that judgment, Karasik was reinstated for a day so that he could apply for a disability retirement pension.
The state's pension board granted him an "ordinary" disability retirement pension, but Karasik appealed that decision, and on Tuesday, a state appeals court granted him an accidental disability retirement pension, which pays more.
Karasik qualified for the accidental disability, the court ruled, because the incidents when the acting range master pointed the gun at the back of his head constituted a "qualifying traumatic event" that caused a "permanent, disabling mental injury." Karasik had described "a specific threat of death or serious bodily injury," the court said.
Karasik, employed by the Sparta Police Department for 13 years, has been paid $3,312 per month, or $39,744 per year, under the ordinary disability pension, according to state pension data, based on a formula that allows 43.6 percent of the final average salary as a pension. Karasik had been paid $99,370 annually as a police officer.
However, with the accidental disability, Karasik may receive 72.7 percent of his base salary at the time of the traumatic event, under state regulations.
The appeals court decision issued Tuesday details the chain of events in the Sparta Police Department that led to Karasik's discharge in 2004 at the age of 41.
According to the court decision, in 2001 the department issued a Code of Conduct, following a "scandal" in which there was a "contentious" ending to an affair between a married superior officer and a married patrol officer.
A few months later, Karasik and the other officer witnessed the incident in which the records clerk was allegedly molested and reported it.
After that, Karasik said, he and the other officer were "no longer considered patrolmen" but were considered "trash" as a series of harassing episodes ensued.
Karasik said he was told "You crossed the blue line, you should have kept your mouth shut and not said anything about us."
Examples of the harassing experiences, Karasik said, included the internal affairs commander saying, "If you (expletive) somebody, you're going to get (expletive) yourself."
In addition, Karasik said, other officers took information out of his reports to make him look "foolish" in court; he was repeatedly transferred to different squads; had his vacation and personal time requests "thrown away"; officers taped posters of males engaging in homosexual activities in his locker, and the records clerk involved in the incident wrote harassing notes on his paperwork and filed unfounded complaints against him.
The gun incidents began in 2002, Karasik said, when other officers would "load their guns" in the locker room, with the barrel pointed in his direction.
When he tried to voice his concerns to the internal affairs department, he was told "don't come in here anymore," the appeals court wrote.
Then, in 2003, while typing a report, Karasik sought assistance from the acting gun range master. He replied, "You're a cop. Figure it out," before sitting in a chair directly behind him and pointing with his gun.
In testimony, Karasik described how it happened: "He'd come up close behind you, and I'd be doing my report and he'd ... whip it out and he'd start playing with it. And I was ... in such fear. I thought the thing would go off and shoot ... me in the head. He was so close. And he would do that over and over and over then laugh about it."
Karasik said he could feel the end of the gun against his head, adding that during those episodes, the acting gun range master frequently used the term "accidental discharge."
Karasik said he froze, because "I'm afraid if I move and his finger on that trigger, I'm going to get shot."
Karasik could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Louis Barbone, declined to comment.
Lt. John-Paul Beebe, who serves as a spokesman for the Sparta Police Department, said Wednesday that he was "fully aware of the case," noting that he was a witness.
But because the case has been the subject of continuing litigation, "Nobody (in the department) can talk about it," Beebe said.
Ben Horowitz may be reached at bhorowitz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @HorowitzBen. Find NJ.com on Facebook.