Developments in charges of race prejudice being made by two New York Jews against members of the Westchester County Park Commission police, today found formal charges filed by the two men against two officers, alleging omission of duty. Dr. Philip A. Cohen, and James Cunningham, both of New York City, are plaintiffs in the charges filed in Special Sessions Court against Sergeant Orville Perry and Patrolman Charles Smith.
This and all the other charges and countercharges in the case, in which anti-Semitic remarks by police during an alleged assault have been outstanding, will be presented to a jury Sept. 4, it has just been decided. City Judge Charles W. Boote will preside.
The new charges against these police are the outgrowth of the arrest of Dr. Cohen and Cunningham by Patrolman Emmet Howell at Tibbetts Brook Park here July 13, for disorderly conduct, because the New Yorkers were smoking in the pool, against regulations. They claim Howell took them to a nearby shack and administered a beating to them while Sergeant Perry and Patrolman Smith stood idly by and failed to protect them. They add that the three officers used remarks derogatory to the Jewish race.
Accordingly the new charges have been filed, indicating the two officers were guilty of a misdemeanor in neglecting to interfere and stop the beating, as provided in Section 1857 of the Penal Law. Besides the charges against the two Jews, and the two policemen, there is also an assault charge against patrolman Howell.
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