Former NY police chief accused of covering up beating

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — The ex-chief of one of the country's largest local law enforcement agencies was arrested Wednesday on charges he took revenge against a man who stole sex toys, pornography and other items from his SUV by beating the suspect and then coercing officers to lie about it.

Former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke also threatened to kill the suspect with a heroin overdose and "went out of control" — punching, screaming and cursing — after the suspect called him a "pervert" until a detective "finally said, 'Boss that's enough, that's enough,'" prosecutors told a judge.

The suspect, Christopher Loeb, was arrested after someone broke into the chief's department-issued SUV in 2012 and made off with a gun belt, handcuffs, magazines of ammunition, a box of cigars, humidor and a canvas bag that contained, among other items, sex toys and video pornography, authorities said.

Capers' letter also alleges Burke ordered "detectives assigned to a federal-state task force to 'spy' on federal law enforcement colleagues" and in the past several months "threatened to 'take everyone' down with him."

Later that day, he bragged to others police department employees about his assault on Loeb and days later "regaled a group of officers with his account of the assault, saying it reminded him of his 'old days' as a young police officer," prosecutors said.