|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
|
June 3rd,
2005 - Passaro Accused of Beating Girlfriend |
|
Passaro Accused of Beating Girlfriend By Martha Waggonner Associated Press June 3, 2005 Raleigh, N.C. - A man
accused of beating an Afghan prisoner who later died in custody was back
behind bars himself Thursday after being accused of assaulting his
girlfriend, authorities said. U.S. Attorney Frank Whitney
said the U.S. Marshal's Service arrested David Passaro on a charge of
assaulting his girlfriend, Bonnie Heart, in Lillington. Passaro, 38, will stay in
custody until a federal magistrate holds a hearing to determine if Passaro is
a risk to public safety or a flight risk, Whitney said. Harnett County Sheriff Larry
Rollins said in a news release that Heart, 46, told deputies she and Passaro
had a dispute about some phone calls. She said Passaro threw her
into a hallway, pushed her into a door and into the front glass storm door,
causing her to fall down stairs. She also said Passaro threw her cell phone
and then pulled an earring from her hear as she was leaving in her vehicle. He was charged with assault
on a female, injury to personal property and misdemeanor larceny. Passaro, a former Special
Forces soldier who worked as a civilian special operations employee at Fort
Bragg, is charged with four counts of assault in Afghanistan. He is accused
of beating Abdul Wali with his hands, feet and a large flashlight while Wali
was interrogated for two days at a U.S. base in Afghanistan in June 2003. Wali had turned himself in
to U.S. forces, who sought him as a suspect in rocket attacks on the base. He
later died in custody. Passaro is the first
civilian prosecuted on charges of mistreating a military detainee in the U.S.
war on terrorism, and the first American charged under the Patriot Act. He was released from the
Wake County Jail in August after U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle said
prosecutors failed to show Passaro was a flight risk or a threat to the
community. Boyle ordered Passaro
released to the custody of a neighbor in Lillington. Passaro also was under
electronic monitoring and had a curfew from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. His trial is scheduled to
start next month in federal district court in Raleigh. Some people who know Passaro
say he has a history of aggressive behavior, while others said the alleged of
assault in Afghanistan seemed out of character. Passaro's ex-wife, Kerry
Passaro of Fayetteville, said last year he was violent toward her throughout
their marriage. Heart, a police detective in
the Wake County town of Wake Forest, had stood by Passaro after his arrest
and initial detention. She was placed on unpaid leave last July after she was
targeted in a federal investigation of Passaro and either quit or lost her
job in October. Federal agents searched
Heart's home twice, and prosecutors in federal court used tapes of her
conversations with Passaro in an attempt show that he was hiding money and
planning an escape. In court papers, prosecutors
said Heart and Passaro spoke in code about hidden cash, passports and other
documents. Passaro's attorney argued that there was no escape plot. External link: http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/statewide_news/?SecID=332&ArID=94801 |