SPRINGFIELD – Two Springfield police officers were fired Tuesday following an internal probe into allegations that one beat a man involved in a domestic quarrel with the patrolman's niece, and the other trumped up a report to hide it.



Patrolmen Danilo Feliciano and Pedro R. Mendez were dismissed by Commissioner William J. Fitchet after an independent hearings officer found they had violated departmental standards.

Feliciano, 39, was in January charged in Westfield District Court with assault and battery on Rolando E. Rivera, 19, who had been in a rocky relationship with Feliciano's niece, according to court records.



She filed a report with police stating Rivera threw a cereal bowl and a cell phone at her during an argument. Mendez, 40, authored a report related to the incident, which took place at Rivera's School Street apartment on Sept. 24, when police went to investigate the alleged domestic incident.



In court filings, Rivera said Feliciano and other officers "beat me up very bad" and threw bleach in his face after he had an argument with his girlfriend.



As a member of the gang-focused street crimes unit at the time, it is unclear what Feliciano was doing at the scene.





Mendez, a then-member of the special victims unit, drafted a report portraying Rivera as the aggressor. It states he had to punch Rivera several times to defend himself after Rivera came after him.

Rivera was charged with assault and battery, assault on a police officer and resisting arrest; he has pleaded innocent and those charges are pending in District Court.

The police report did not identify any of the other officers present, aside from Feliciano and Mendez.

Rivera’s lawyer, Perman Glenn III, has said five or six other officers were at the scene. Rivera’s application for a criminal complaint against Feliciano stated “Danny Feliciano and other officers” had gone to his apartment.

Sgt. John M. Delaney, executive aide to Fitchet, said the hearings officer found that Feliciano and Mendez violated the department’s abuse of force and improper conduct standards.

“Commissioner Fitchet acknowledges the need for sworn police officers to be accountable for their actions,” Delaney said. “The task of dismissing two police officers was extremely unpleasant but necessary.”

Kevin B. Coyle, a lawyer for Feliciano and Mendez, said they will appeal the firing.

“We’re very disappointed with the commissioner’s decision, and we don’t think the evidence supported this result,” Coyle said.

In his application for a criminal complaint against Feliciano, Rivera said he had a boot print on his back and his head was “busted open,” records show.

Feliciano pleaded innocent at his arraignment in Westfield. His case was continued last week for a pre-trial conference in May.

Glenn, who has been a frequent and vocal critic of the police department, applauded the decision to fire Feliciano and Mendez.

“I think that they got it right this time,” Glenn said. “However, there is still much more to do in disciplining police officers who inflict serious injuries on Springfield’s citizens.”

Police brutality allegations still linger against patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher, who was caught on amateur videotape beating a drug suspect with a flashlight in November. Police said the suspect, Melvin Jones III, was trying to flee and made a grab for an officer’s gun.

That incident sparked criminal and internal probes, and talks about reviving a police commission versus a civilian review board to assess brutality claims.

Asher has been out on sick leave since the videotape surfaced in early January, Delaney has said.

Another patrolman, Derek V. Cook has remained on the job for more than two years while assault and battery charges are pending against him in District Court for a 2008 incident in which he was charged with roughing up two of his supervisors on duty.

Cook, 40, attacked Lt. Robert P. Moynihan after a tense exchange during roll call on Feb. 2, 2008 at headquarters at 130 Pearl St., according to police reports. Cook was charged with assault on Moynihan and with a second count for allegedly throwing recently retired Sgt. Dennis M. O’Connor across the room when O’Connor attempted to intervene.

A month ago, Delaney said the Cook case hadn’t been acted on within the department because the charges are pending in the District Court. “The case has been laboring in the court system. We want to make sure the case is disposed of before conducting a (departmental disciplinary) hearing,” Delaney told The Republican.

Mendez became a member of the force in 1996, and Feliciano in 2001, records show.

Glenn said he also thinks disciplinary action against the other officers at the scene is warranted.

The dispute was investigated through witness testimony during an all-day hearing on March 15 conducted by Richard C. Morrissey, retired assistant clerk-magistrate of the Springfield District Court.

Glenn also said he will seek dismissal of the charges against his client.

Staff writers Ted Laborde and Peter Goonan contributed to this report.