Fire Island Cops On Trial Over Bladder-Bursting Beating

A Manhattan marketing executive who says police on Fire Island beat him until his bladder burst is finally having his day in court. Yesterday Sam Gilberd told jurors his account of the alleged assault, which he says took place in the Ocean Beach police station one night in 2005. Police had arrested a drunken Gilberd after he threw a glass outside a bar; after issuing him a summons, Gilberd made the very stupid decision to kick the station's front door on his way out. It was then, he says, that he was grabbed from behind and told him, "Now you've pissed off the sergeant." Gilberd told the jury, "I remember being hit, I remember being punched. I got a big kick in my stomach and everything got really bright, and then it went dark." Acting police chief George Hesse faces gang assault and other charges; another officer is accused of failing to seek medical attention for Gilberd and lying to first responders about the extent of his injuries. In 2007, the Suffolk County DA accused Hesse and other officers of running an "out of control" police department, rife with on-duty drinking and fornication.