BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

MASSENA – The village police officer who was seen on video damaging a suspect’s vehicle with a garage door has been suspended since shortly after the incident.

Patrolman Brandon Huckle was caught on a home security video on March 16 inside of Bernie Russo’s garage in the village of Massena. Officers on that date executed a search warrant at Russo’s residence, allegedly discovering narcotics and U.S. currency.

The video shows Huckle entering the garage and striking the vehicle with the door as he enters, then looking off camera and striking the car with the door two more times. Each of the three impacts are clearly audible on the recording.

Village Police Chief Jason Olson says the department became aware of the security footage shortly after the incident, and that led to Huckle’s suspension and an internal investigation. Village Administrator Monique Chatland confirmed the suspension began March 25 and is ongoing. She didn’t say if his suspension is with or without pay, and declined further comment.

Both Chief Olson and St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary Pasqua both say they feel they acted quickly and ethically.

“Officer Huckle was suspended in March after the incident was reported to Massena Police Department Administration and is still currently suspended from duty. The Village of Massena Police Department has been and will continue to be diligent and transparent in addressing this matter,” Chief Olson said in a prepared statement issued Thursday, May 6.

“This matter and the video being circulated were immediately disclosed and turned over to District Attorney Gary Pasqua in March by The Massena Police Department. Since the incident was reported, several attempts were made to communicate with the vehicle owner to notify and meet with them regarding the matter. The vehicle owners refused to cooperate until recently (May 3). Due to ongoing criminal and disciplinary matters, the Village of Massena will not provide further comment at this time,” Olson said.

Attorney Brian Barrett, who is representing Russo, said he has a scheduled meeting with Massena Police Lt. Cody Wilson on Friday, May 7.

DA Pasqua confirmed that Massena police promptly reached out to his office and also defense council for Russo.

“Immediately upon learning of the information … the chief immediately contacted me, provided me with a copy of the video. My office then turned around and provided it to who was Mr. Russo’s attorney at the time on an unrelated matter, made sure they were aware of it,” Pasqua said in a Thursday, May 6 phone interview. “We made sure Mr. Russo knew if he wanted to file some sort of formal complaint, he could do that with any law enforcement agency, including the Village of Massena Police Department.”

The county’s top prosecutor says they have no criminal complaint or statement from Russo, but if he lodges one, it will trigger a criminal investigation.

“At this point, we have not had a complaint or a statement filed, to my knowledge, by Mr. Russo. Without a complaining victim, which Mr. Russo would be, no law enforcement agency is going to conduct a criminal investigation,” Pasqua said.

Barrett on Wednesday, May 5 says he feels any criminal complaint should be filed with an outside agency.

“Because of the numerous comments that are made about this video, and people are telling me they’ve had horrendous dealings not only with Officer Huckle, but other officers from this agency, I think it would be more appropriate to bring a complaint to the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office or New York State Police,” Barrett said.

Pasqua said that prosecutors and police are following the step-by-step guidelines they are legally required to take when an incident like this comes to light.

“I think the public should know this is not a situation where Massena Village Police or Chief Olson did not act appropriately and swiftly. As soon as they became aware of what had happened, they notified my office. They made sure the defense council was made aware of it. This is not something anyone is trying to keep quiet,” Pasqua said. “The Massena Police Department and my office acted appropriately, ethically, and as swiftly as possible.”

In addition to the vehicle damage, Barrett said his client believes there is also a discrepancy between cash he had on hand at the time of his March arrest and what was reported as evidence.

“I would say that we have reason to believe the money that was seized as part of the search warrant was not all returned as evidence. We think there’s about a $2,000 disparity,” Barrett said.