Off-duty police officer fined $25 after Lake George incident

A Connecticut police officer who was arrested earlier this month accused of fighting with two peace officers in the Adirondack village of Lake George has been fined $25 on a reduced charge of disorderly conduct.

Authorities say 43-year-old Leonard E. Alterio pleaded guilty this week to the violation after the Aug. 1 incident in which he threw punches at a Lake George peace officer before being taken into custody.

A patrolman with the Bridgeport Police Department, he was off-duty. He had been charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest and second-degree harassment.

Warren County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Donlon says Alterio had no prior criminal record, and no one needed hospital treatment.

Alterio's lawyer says he had been assaulted earlier and mistakenly believed the officer was trying to attack him.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)