The off-duty officer was driving on Putnam Avenue parallel to the park Sunday afternoon when he saw Robert Berwick, 42, of 73 Weaver St., hiding behind a tree with a video camera in hand with two children, ages about 3 or 4 years old, playing in his line of sight. The officer saw Berwick move toward bushes with the camera.
When the officer approached Berwick, he said, “I know you’re a cop,” according to Lt. James Ladeairous, public information officer for the Port Chester Police Department. When the officer asked him what he was doing, Berwick hit him with the camera, causing minor cuts, police said. The officer held Berwick down and waited for backup to arrive. Berwick was arrested on the charge of assault and was released on $500 bail. He is due in court Thursday. Police confiscated Berwick’s camera and an investigation was ongoing.
Berwick has a history of videotaping people in public, according to Lt. Kraig Gray, spokesman for the Greenwich Police Department. In 2001, Berwick was arrested videotaping women at Greenwich’s Bruce Park and was charged with breach of peace, trespassing and interfering. In 2002, 2003 and 2004, he was arrested on charges of videotaping couples exchanging intimacies at the park as well as a women’s softball game, and was charged with criminal intent at voyeurism.
In 2004, Berwick was arrested for violating his probation, which prohibited him from possessing any type of recording equipment. Police seized his video property.
The most recent incident involving Berwick in Greenwich was a 2008 charge of breach of peace for videotaping three teenage sisters at Greenwich Library, police said.
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