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Date:         Thu, 7 Jan 1993 06:36:38 -0500
From:         Daniel Burstein <dannyb@PANIX.COM>
Subject:      final dispo on unpleasant event, perth amboy, nj

Ex-rescue squad chief faces manslaughter trial
Homeless man's drowning blamed on beating in back of ambulance
Byline:   JIM O'NEILL 11/29/92
THE STAR-LEDGER  NEWARK, N.J.    (NSL)
(Copyright Newark Morning Ledger Co., 1992)
     When a 30-year-old homeless man called Perth Amboy's rescue
squad more than a year ago, he expected help.
   Instead, Efrain (Frankie) Rodriguez got a beating that cost him
his life, according to police and witnesses, who claim the homeless
man was pummeled in the rear of an ambulance and later drowned when
he either fell or was pushed off a city pier.
   Details surrounding the man's death on June 8, 1991, will unfold
in the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick this week as one
of the former squad members, Kevin Vargo, 21, goes on trial on eight
counts, including aggravated manslaughter.
   Vargo, a Perth Amboy resident who was squad president at the time
of Rodriguez's death, was among five squad workers who had been
accused and is the only one expected to stand trial.
   Two other squad members pleaded guilty, a third entered a
pre-trial probationary program to avoid trial and a 17-year-old
trainee is awaiting the outcome of juvenile delinquency charges filed
against him. All four are expected to testify against Vargo.
   An investigation into Rodriguez's death began when his body was
pulled from the Arthur Kill, a tributary of the Raritan Bay, five
days after his death.
   An autopsy showed the homeless man, who had been intoxicated, had
drowned, but police said they suspected foul play and later linked
the death to the rescue squad members.
   Police said they learned that Rodriguez had become a "nuisance" to
the squad because he repeatedly called for help, even when he did not
need assistance.
   Such was the case on the night Rodriguez was beaten, according to
police, who said the homeless man was beaten for less than an hour as
four of the squad workers, including Vargo, drove around the city in
the ambulance.
   The squad workers later dropped off the victim at a pier at State
Street, according to police, who said they never charged any of them
with murder because it was uncertain whether the victim fell or was
pushed into the water.
   The squad members were charged June 24, 1991, with the homeless
man's death.
   Ten months later, Stephen Aleksza, 21, who had been squad vice
president, and Joseph Totero, 24, a volunteer, pleaded guilty to
manslaughter and agreed to testify against Vargo. In exchange,
Aleksza and Totero face up to five years in prison.
   Aleksza admitted repeatedly striking Rodriguez in the back of the
ambulance. Totero said he never hit the victim but drove the
ambulance while others struck him.
   The remaining co-defendant, Scott Bromirski, 22, was not among
those who rode in the ambulance the fateful night and was allowed to
enter the pre-trial probationary program. He maintained he was duped
by Vargo into altering squad records and had been unaware of the
assault.
   Bromirski, who had been employed as a county sheriff's officer,
also was forced to resign, authorities said.
   In addition to aggravated manslaughter, Vargo faces charges of
aggravated assault and terroristic threats by striking and
threatening Rodriguez and a weapons offense, a flashlight used in the
beating.
   The former squad president also is charged with attempting to
cover up the assault by giving false information to police and by
conspiring to hinder his apprehension by having squad records
altered.
   In addition, Vargo is accused of making terroristic threats by
threatening the 17-year-old trainee, to prevent him from telling
authorities about the homeless man's beating.
   Vargo's trial is expected to last two weeks. Superior Court Judge
Mathias E. Rodriguez, no relation to the victim, will preside.

-------------------------

Former ambulance squad chief admits guilt in homeless man's death
Ex-president says he and 3 others beat victim, then left him on pier
Byline:   JIM O'NEILL  12/03/92
THE STAR-LEDGER  NEWARK, N.J.    (NSL)
(Copyright Newark Morning Ledger Co., 1992)
   A former Perth Amboy rescue squad president said yesterday he and
three co-workers beat a homeless man in an ambulance and left him on
a desolate pier, only to realize later that the victim fell into the
water and drowned.
   Kevin P. Vargo, 21, of Perth Amboy, in pleading guilty to
aggravated manslaughter, said he and his co-workers began punching
Efrain (Frankie) Rodriguez, 30, and hitting him with a flashlight on
June 8, 1991, because the victim was intoxicated and had become
"belligerent."
   Vargo said he subsequently realized the homeless man may have
fallen into the water and said he drove the ambulance around the pier
looking for Rodriguez but never got out of the vehicle to search and
did not call for help.
   "It was a concern of mine that he may have fallen" off of the
pier, Vargo said, insisting, at one point, that he cared about the
victim's welfare.
   The former squad president recalled the beating in chilling detail
yesterday as he pleaded guilty to a single count of aggravated
manslaughter in New Brunswick before Superior Court Judge Mathias E.
Rodriguez, no relation to the victim.
   The plea was entered as jury selection was about to begin in the
trial of Vargo, who also faced seven related charges that could have
resulted in a prison term of more than 40 years.
   Under terms of a plea bargain reached between his attorney, Robert
Devlin of Metuchen, and Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas
Kapsak, the other charges will be dismissed and Vargo will face a
prison term of up to 30 years.
   Vargo was the last of five squad members to plead guilty. Some of
the squad members previously said Rodriguez had become a "nuisance,"
by repeatedly calling for help when he did not need medical
assistance.
   Police said at the time of the victim's death that he might have
been beaten as many as 50 times in the past by squad workers who were
"fed up" with his bogus calls.
   Investigating the possibility of additional beatings of Rodriguez
and other homeless men, police never substantiated claims that other
homeless men had been victimized.
   Police initially believed Rodriguez had drowned after falling off
the pier in a drunken stupor. They stepped up the probe after
determining he had been beaten.
   Vargo said yesterday the homeless man, drunk and disoriented on
the dark pier, probably stumbled into the Arthur Kill, a tributary of
the Raritan River.
   In detailing the assault, Vargo said he, Stephen Aleksza, 21, who
was squad vice president, Joseph Totero, 24, and Raphael Piniero, a
17-year-old trainee, were dispatched to respond to a call for help
from Rodriguez.
   "We placed Mr. Rodriguez in the ambulance," Vargo told the court,
asserting the members began hitting the victim after he became
"belligerent."
   He said all of the squad members struck Rodriguez. Totero
previously claimed he was driving the ambulance and did not hit the
man.
   Vargo said that instead of driving to a hospital, the group drove
in the opposite direction toward State Street and the pier owned by
Ho-Ro Trucking, and beat the victim during the trip.
   "We drove onto the pier with the ambulance," Vargo said. "We got
him out of the ambulance and we left him on the center of the pier."
   "Did you know at the time that is not what you should have done
with Mr. Rodriguez?" the defense attorney asked. "Yes," Vargo
replied.
   Vargo said he returned to the pier 20 minutes later and saw
Rodriguez waving.
   "Did it appear to you that he was calling to you for help?" the
defendant was asked by the assistant prosecutor. "No. It appeared he
was just waving."
   Several members of the victim's family attended the hearing and
scoffed at a claim by Vargo that he was concerned. The family
members declined comment outside court.
   After Vargo pleaded guilty, the judge said he would sentence the
adult defendants Jan. 25. The teenaged trainee was charged as a
juvenile and is awaiting sentencing in Family Court.
   The fifth member of the squad implicated, Scott Bromirski, 22,
never rode in the ambulance but was charged with attempting to
conceal Vargo's crime.
   Bromirski, dismissed from his job as a county sheriff's officer,
pleaded guilty but said he was duped by Vargo into changing some
squad records, and was allowed to enroll in a pre-trial probationary
program.
   The claims that Vargo ordered the record changes are among counts
to be dismissed Jan. 25.
   Other counts to be dismissed include an allegation that Vargo
threatened to kill Piniero if he told police about the beating.

Updated: YY92 MM12 DD08
END OF DOCUMENT.