SOUTHEAST – Putnam County Deputy Sheriff Kevin Osika appeared in Southeast Town Court to answer charges of assault and aggravated harassment stemming from an alleged domestic dispute in February.
Southeast Town Judge Louis Gasparini dismissed the aggravated harassment charge leaving the misdemeanor assault offense on the table.
If found guilty, Osika faces a maximum year in jail plus fines of up to $1,000.
Osika, a 10-year member of the force who in the summer of 2019 was recognized as New York State’s First Responder of the Month for saving the life of a man who was about to jump to his death from the Veterans Memorial Bridge that carries I-84 over the Village of Brewster, continues to be suspended from the sheriff’s department while awaiting the resolution of the case.
The case has been delayed since local justices in Carmel and Putnam Valley in addition to District Attorney Robert Tendy recused themselves since both Osika and his wife, Putnam Legislator Erin Lee Crowley and Congressman Mike Lawler’s deputy district director, are well known throughout the county.
Consequently, the supervising judge for criminal courts in New York’s 9th Judicial District appointed Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi as the special district attorney for the case.
Osika is due back in court June 16.
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