By Lauren R. Harrison
Newsday
NASSAU COUNTY, N.Y. — A Nassau County correction officer was arrested by investigators from the Nassau district attorney’s office and arraigned Monday, accused of falsely reporting the circumstances of how he was injured while on duty at a hospital last year.
Ebbie Kurian, 36, of Islip Terrace, was on duty and assigned to guard a hospitalized inmate at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow the morning of Feb. 4, 2014, when he activated his Nassau County sheriff’s department radio alarm for assistance and was found to have a 5 1/2-inch-long superficial laceration to the scalp and neck, according to Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.
Kurian said he had been injured by an unknown perpetrator, but gave multiple and conflicting accounts about how the laceration occurred in the hours immediately following the injury, and later made one of these false statements in a deposition to the Nassau County Police Department and in paperwork filed with the Nassau County sheriff’s office, Singas said in a new release.
“By falsely reporting this incident, this defendant diverted precious time and resources of local law enforcement to respond to and investigate a crime of his own making,” Singas said in a written statement.
“My office will continue to hold public servants accountable when they put the public at risk and abuse the trust the people of this county have placed in them.”
Kurian was arraigned before Nassau County Court Judge Meryl Berkowitz and faced grand jury charges, including first-degree falsifying business records, a felony, as well as two counts of second-degree falsifying business records, three counts of second-degree offering a false instrument for filing, official misconduct, obstructing governmental administration, making a punishable false written statement and three counts of third-degree falsely reporting an incident.
Kurian’s attorney, Fred Annibale of Garden City, said, “My client vehemently denies these charges and we intend to vigorously defend the charges.”
John Jaronczyk, president of the Nassau County Sheriff’s Correction Officers Benevolent Association, said in a written statement that the organization plans to ensure that the rights of Kurian -- described as a correction officer with more than six years experience -- will be protected.
“We are confident that at the conclusion of this legal process, and once the facts of this case come out, Officer Kurian will be proven innocent and exonerated of all charges,” said Jaronczyk.
Berkowitz released Kurian on his own recognizance, officials said. If convicted of the top charge, Kurian faces a maximum sentence of 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison, according to the DA’s office.
Kurian’s report of being attacked caused NUMC to be placed on lockdown for several hours, DA officials said. Different divisions of law enforcement spent more than 350 hours to respond, patrol and investigate, the officials said.
Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano said Kurian’s “theatric performance shut down our hospital, instilled fear in patients and cost taxpayers dearly.” He said the county attorney may seek restitution from anyone involved in the incident.
Paul Leonard, a spokesman for Nassau’s district attorney’s office, said it’s unclear how Kurian’s injuries were sustained.
Kurian is due back in court on Feb. 23.