# Hudson Cop Presses On With Charges



## WorPD007 (Jan 26, 2006)

*Cop presses on with charges
*By *Jennifer Kavanaugh*/ Daily News Staff
Friday, April 21, 2006

*H*UDSON -- A former Hudson Police officer is still pursuing allegations against an ex-superior, even after a clerk magistrate refused to press charges against the Hudson sergeant accused of harassing and intimidating him at a courthouse.
 Tony Rego, who now works for the Maynard Police Department, claims Hudson Sgt. Thomas Crippen threatened him a couple of months ago while they were both at Framingham District Court to testify in the same trial. Crippen denies those allegations, and a clerk magistrate found last month that probable cause did not exist to charge Crippen.
Rego's attorney, Keith Nicholson, said this week he has filed an appeal with the Framingham court, in the hope a judge there will agree to hold a new hearing on the same complaint. He said Crippen tried to intimidate his client when they ran into each other in Framingham earlier this year.
"The way he followed Tony around the courthouse that day -- Tony felt it wasn't appropriate, felt it wasn't right, and he wanted to do something about it," Nicholson said.
Andrew Gambaccini, Crippen's lawyer, has filed paperwork with the court to oppose a new hearing. He said his client simply had criticized Rego at the courthouse because Rego reportedly had mistreated another Hudson Police supervisor.
Calling the case against Crippen a vendetta, Gambaccini said Rego is angry he was forced out of the Hudson department after a series of internal affairs investigations into his actions. Crippen had participated in those investigations, he said.
"He has put a face on that hatred, and that face is Sgt. Crippen," Gambaccini said. "There is absolutely nothing criminal or improper in what Sgt. Crippen did. It is unfortunate that Mr. Rego has gone to the lengths that he has gone to, to pursue this case against Mr. Crippen."
The whole dispute began when Rego and Crippen were both at the Framingham Court to testify in the trial of former Hudson Police Officer Kevin Andrade, who is Rego's second cousin.
Andrade ultimately was acquitted of charges that he committed assault and battery with a dangerous weapon while off-duty and involved in a barroom brawl. The Hudson Police Department, however, already had fired him based on its own investigation into the incident, and Andrade is appealing that decision with the Civil Service Commission.
Meanwhile, both Rego and Crippen, and their lawyers, are waiting to find out whether a judge will agree to hold another hearing. A clerk at the Framingham court said no decision on the application appeared to have been made as of yesterday afternoon.
(Jennifer Kavanaugh can be reached at 508-626-4416 or at [email protected].)


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