Bayonne cop who beat suspect with flashlight gets 3.5 years in prison

NEWARK — A former Bayonne police officer who beat a man with a flashlight during an arrest has been sentenced to 42 months in prison.

NJ.com reports 48-year-old Domenico Lillo was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Newark. Lillo pleaded guilty in 2015 to one count of deprivation of civil rights and one count of falsifying records to impede a civil rights investigation.

Police say Lillo and two other Bayonne officers arrested Brandon Walsh because he had a warrant for failing to appear in court. Video footage captured Lillo striking Walsh with the flashlight as he was taken into custody.

He resigned following the incident.

The city of Bayonne settled a lawsuit with Walsh and his family for over $1 million.

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