2 former Ambridge officers sentenced in prisoner beating

Former Ambridge police officer Richard Heitzenrater, who pleaded guilty to civil rights violations from a 2009 incident, was sentenced today to six months in a halfway house.

Mr. Heitzenrater, 61, beat Ambridge resident David Baker in a police station and conspired with another officer to destroy video evidence.

Despite statements from a half-dozen law enforcement veterans, including an FBI agent, to Mr. Heitzenrater's long public service, U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry told him that "Mr. Baker and the public, however, deserve better than you."

Mr. Heitzenrater beat a drunken Mr. Baker after Mr. Baker urinated in public, which was witnessed by the officer's granddaughter.

Robert Kuzma, a 28-year veteran of the Ambridge police, was sentenced to one year of probation for his role in destroying video evidence of the beating. Mr. Kuzma retired in August after a one-year suspension related to the charge of accessory to the fact of a crime, to which he pleaded guilty, and now serves in a volunteer role as the chairman of the Beaver County Public Safety Commission.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

First published on November 12, 2010 at 11:25 am