3 Staten Island Youths Beat, Bat Off-Duty Cop, Are Arrested

By Roy Edroso Tue., Aug. 11 2009 at 5:32 PM

Categories: Crime, Featured, Staten Island

Ah, Staten Island. On Saturday three young men -- allegedly Matthew Catanese, John T. Lafrancesca, and Wayne Laborante -- left a party in Rossville (whether by choice or force remains a matter of dispute) and went wandering the streets with voices raised, whether in song or rage we don't know. A man by the name of Klein yelled out his window for them to pipe down. They rejoined instead with curses, which drew the householder outside, where the three men beat him; his son, Fred Klein, came out in his father's defense, and the threesome turned their attention, amplified by a baseball bat, on him -- despite the fact (or because of it) that he had identified himself as a cop.

Police in uniform showed up and apprehended two of the men; the third was picked up later. LaFrancesca's lawyer says his client doesn't know the other two guys, and was actually trying to stop the altercation, which the lawyer characterizes as "his friend being beaten by the off-duty cop." Catanese and Lafrancesca are out on bail; Laborante, who was found to be in possession of weed and Xanax, remains incarcerated.

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