Hate Crime Charge Tossed By Town Justice, Alleged victim thinking about filing a civil suit

A felony hate crime charge brought against a Montauk man for allegedly attacking a Latino man in April was all but dismissed last Thursday by East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana.

Mark Dombrowski of North Fleming Court, a former New York City firefighter and transit police and corrections officer, received an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal on the single charge of assault in the third degree as a hate crime.

The charge could have carried up to four years of imprisonment since the misdemeanor is sentenced under felony guidelines.

According to Justice Rana's decision, the charge will be dismissed if Mr. Dombrowski does not commit a crime for six months. In May, the case will be revisited and formally dismissed should Mr. Dombrowski stay out of trouble, Robert Clifford, the spokesman for the Suffolk County district attorney's office, said on Tuesday.

Mr. Dombrowski was accused of punching and kicking Luis Ochoa while yelling racial slurs. Mr. Ochoa is a native of Colombia, a former hotel maintenance worker, and president of Sola Latino Americana Outreach Center, a Latino advocacy group, as well as a eucharistic minister at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk. The incident stemmed from a road-rage incident involving the two men moments before the alleged attack on North Farragut Road in Montauk.

According to Mr. Ochoa, several Latinos witnessed the incident and made statements to the police that painted a picture of an unprovoked attack by Mr. Dombrowski.

"The D.A. and police did a very thorough investigation into what really happened," said Gordon G. Ryan of Montauk, Mr. Dombrowski's attorney. The incident was based on a civilian complaint, not on what an officer saw, he added.

Mr. Clifford said that the district attorney's office could not make the charges stick because it could not prove that Mr. Ochoa had any physical injuries. He added that the office had been forced to subpoena Mr. Ochoa's medical records from his doctor in Montauk. Those records showed a "sore arm" and a "neck pain complaint." Mr. Ochoa claims to have pictures of his injuries from the day of the alleged attack.

Mr. Clifford did not address questions itness statements had come into question.

Mr. Dombrowski has maintained since his arrest that he acted in self-defense after Mr. Ochoa threatened him with a rock and "poked" him, according to Mr. Ryan. "It's ludicrous he's being called a racist," the attorney said yesterday.

Upon his arrest 11 days after the incident, Mr. Dombrowski was arraigned on the misdemeanor charges and released on $1,500 bail. At that time, he submitted to a drug test and was found to be drug and alcohol-free, Mr. Ryan said last Thursday.

He then enrolled in an anger management class and Stop-Bias, an anti-bias program that is "mandatory for those defendants convicted of a bias offense," Mr. Clifford said. Mr. Dombrowski completed the class during the summer.

The district attorney's office did not comment on whether the classes affected the court's decision to adjourn the case.

Last Thursday, Mr. Ryan asked for the charges to be dismissed in their entirety.

Justice Rana did not dismiss the charges completely and did issue a temporary order of protection to Mr. Ochoa, extending to May 10. Mr. Dombrowski was ordered by the court not to contact Mr. Ochoa directly or through a third party.

Mr. Ochoa appeared in the courtroom but did not speak. On Tuesday, he said in an interview that he "wasn't shocked" at the outcome of the hearing but added that he "has absolutely never seen anything like this."

"The laws here are not for immigrants, but only for Anglo-Saxons," he said through a translator. He added that he has been "more psychologically affected by the court's decision than by the attack itself."

Mr. Ochoa said he plans to file a civil suit against Mr. Dombrowski in order to create a "higher profile" for his case and to raise awareness of the judicial system, which he says appears to be "picking and choosing the people it prosecutes."

Mr. Dombrowksi refused to comment, but Mr. Ryan said they were expecting a civil suit. "Bring it on," he added.