By Rocco Parascandola
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
An off-duty city firefighter from Hicksville is facing felony assault charges in the brutal beating of an off-duty police officer yesterday in Ridgewood, an attack that Queens District Attorney Richard Brown called “unprovoked.”
Firefighter Sean Murray, 28, who has two years on the force and is assigned to Ladder Company 140 in Ridgewood, was charged with first- and second-degree assault on Ahmad Kessba, 24. If convicted of the charges, Murray faces up to 25 years in prison. Officials said he would be suspended without pay.
Kessba, who works in Brooklyn’s 63rd Precinct, was in serious condition at Elmhurst Hospital Center, suffering from a brain hemorrhage and severe injuries to his head and face, officials said. He was expected to survive.
The alleged assault on Kessba happened at 5:30 a.m. on a street in Ridgewood, police said.
Earlier in the evening, Murray had shoved his former girlfriend while they were inside Club Mirage in Westbury, law enforcement sources said. Kessba, who was at the club and is a friend of the woman, later drove her to her home, sources said.
According to Brown, when Kessba pulled up in front of the woman’s house, Murray was there waiting and rushed up to Kessba’s car door.
Kessba identified himself as a cop, Brown said. Murray asked for identification but as Kessba was reaching for his badge, Murray allegedly pulled him from the car, threw him to the ground and began punching and kicking him in the head.
After Kessba lost consciousness, “the defendant is alleged to have continued the attack, choking the police officer and repeatedly banging his head on the cement ground,” Brown said.
After the alleged attack, Kessba was bleeding from the mouth and nose, and his eyes were swollen shut, Brown said.
Police responding to the woman’s 911 call arrested Murray.