A former Buffalo Police Lieutenant had pleaded guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law.
Prosecutors say the conviction stems from a series of incidents that happened while 52-year-old Gregory Kwiatkowski was working the overnight shift with the Buffalo Police Department on May 30-31, 2009.
Attorneys say that night, Lt. Kwiatkowski arrived at 52 Treehaven Road to respond to a vehicle that had been stopped by the Cheektowaga Police Department and was believed to be involved in a BB gun shooting earlier that night.
According to prosecutors, Kwiatkowski arrived on scene and used unlawful and unreasonable force on each of the four occupants who were in the car. The Lieutenant admitted to forcibly pushing each of the suspects heads and torsos into the vehicle around which they were being detained.
Lt. Kwiatkowski recovered a BB gun from the vehicle and handed it to one of the other two BPD officers who were on scene.
Co-defendants Raymond Krug and Joseph Wendel are accused of shooting one of the individuals with a BB gun while that person was seated handcuffed in the police car.
