(SOURCE-ALBANY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE)
District Attorney David Soares announced Wednesday that Luke Deer, of Albany, pleaded guilty to one count of Assault in the Third Degree, and resigned from the City of Albany Police Department.
The plea satisfies charges stemming from an incident that occurred on March 16, 2019 in the area of 523 First Street in the City of Albany, in which members of the City of Albany Police Department responded to the area following several calls for a loud party. Soon thereafter a melee ensued that resulted in the suspension of multiple officers.
Deer has been receiving treatment through Veterans Affairs for the last 2 years during his suspension from the police department. The plea requires Deer to continue treatment for another year with regular reports to the Court. The plea also requires Deer to resign from the department, abandoning his current challenge to department discipline, and ending pending arbitration proceedings.
Sentencing has been adjourned for one year. If Deer successfully continues treatment and has no new arrests during that time, the Court will permit him to withdraw his plea and substitute a non-criminal conviction.
A March 8, 2021 arbitration decision re-instated one of the suspended officers to his job with back-pay, citing a lack of supervision and improper training. The incident also resulted in the City paying $100,000 to the victim of Deer’s actions.