Off-Duty Buffalo Cops Involved in Near Fatal Beating; Some Cops Troubled, Talk to Newspaper

William Sager Jr. was being harassed at a
Buffalo, New York, college bar by the manager and two off-duty cops
who had worked security for the bar earlier that Saturday night.
 A friend called 911 to report it and shortly after,
the Buffalo News reports:

Sager was thrown down a set of stairs and placed in
handcuffs while out cold.

Then, still in handcuffs and bleeding from the ears and
mouth, he was dragged out on the sidewalk, a short distance from
the bar. When a friend tried to intervene, he was placed under
arrest.

Later, when on-duty police responded, they found an
internal surveillance tape from Molly’s in the trash
nearby.

Sager is in an intensive care unit (ICU) and may never recover
from his brain injuries. The Buffalo News pieced together
what happened that night in part with the help of reports by cops
who say they were troubled by the incident. Via the News
again:

These reports suggest that at least one of the off-duty
officers inside Molly’s Pub early Sunday was more than a passive
observer to the beating.

The off-duty officer retrieved his handcuffs so they
could be clicked around Sager’s wrists. He then complained to
responding officers about Sager’s friend, who was
arrested.

Said one cop: “Why would an off-duty officer put
handcuffs on an unconscious man?”

The concern cops say they have about the incident (crime) that
happened last week isn’t shared by police brass. The two off-duty
cops implicated in the assault have not been arrested. They’re on
paid leave while the police department investigates. The FBI is
reportedly also examining the incident.

Sager’s friends say it’s unlikely the victim “sparked the
incident,” as the News put it, because he was in the
process of applying to be a state trooper.