Waterford police scuffle case closed, sealed

Mark Riley’s legal woes have taken a marked turn for the better over five months.

In early August, the 52-year-old Troy man stood accused of trying to steal a Waterford police officer’s gun during a traffic stop on Middletown Road and faced up to four years in state prison. On Tuesday, he paid a mandatory $125 surcharge and the case against him vanished forever under a seal imposed by Waterford Justice Nancy Sunukjian five days after Riley pleaded guilty to a violation count of disorderly conduct on Nov. 20.

Riley was initially charged with a misdemeanor resisting arrest and third-degree attempted robbery, a felony. The robbery charge was reduced to petty larceny, which was then dismissed outright; the resisting charge was dropped down to a violation.

The seal on the case means the dashboard video showing his interaction with former Patrolman Jeremy Connors — now a Halfmoon Town Board member — won’t be released by Waterford; the town promptly rejected a request for the footage under the state’s Freedom of Information Law. And it also prevents officials involved with the case from discussing it publicly.

“As far as we’re concerned it never happened,” said John Tanchak, Waterford’s police commissioner.

Riley was initially flagged by Connors, a nine-year veteran of the force, after being observed tailgating another vehicle on Aug. 4.

During the stop, Connors learned the vehicle’s registration had been suspended or revoked and he asked Riley to step out of the car, according to a police account the day of the incident.

Connors, 37, accused Riley of becoming combative when he tried to arrest him and then trying to grab his weapon as they tussled, a struggle that dislodged the gun’s magazine. Another motorist witnessed the struggle and assisted Connors in holding Riley down so that he could be handcuffed.

But the account initially given by police in a news release didn’t match what was captured on video taken by the on-board camera in Connors’ cruiser, according to Robert Pulsifer, Riley’s defense attorney, who said the video tells a much different narrative. He said Riley never grabbed at Connors’ gun and that the Saratoga County prosecutor handling the case could plainly see that from the footage.

“There is absolutely no evidence of that on the tape anywhere and the district attorney agreed with us,” he said. “We knew going in that my client did nothing that was alleged.”

Pulsifer characterized the incident as “an unfortunate situation” that got out of hand because the officer escalated the matter. Though declining to get into specific detail, he said Connors “behaved a little more aggressively than an officer should in those situations.”

“This police officer could have handled it in a much more professional manner and then he escalated it,” he said.

The incident ultimately changed the course of Connors’ career. Tanchak said he suspended the officer pending an internal investigation into the incident, but Connors abruptly quit his $58,000-per-year job a couple of days later.

“That was his choice,” he said. “I was floored when he resigned.”

At the time, Connors had already announced his intention to run for Town Board on the Republican ticket in neighboring Halfmoon. In November, he won a partial term in a seat vacated when a board member died last summer.

Contacted Thursday, Connors — now working in emergency services for a private manufacturing company — had little to say about the incident other than to wish Riley well. He also believes there needs to be a greater public understanding of the difficult choices police regularly need to make on the job.

“Split-second decisions need to be made sometimes,” he said.

Connors said he’s moved on since the incident and is now concentrating on his new role serving the town. Likewise, Pulsifer said his client is more than ready to put the Waterford incident in the past for good.

“The matter is over,” he said. “He just wants it behind him.”