Delaware cop charged with assault at ‘Beer Olympics’ party. Lawsuit says outburst was homophobic violence

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

When Alexander Molina attended a “Beer Olympics” party last summer at a friends’ home in Delaware, he never expected to be choked to the point of unconsciousness, as well as covered in cuts and bruises with a banged-up shoulder, after being attacked by an off-duty police officer.

But that’s what Molina, a friend and state police say occurred that July evening — that Molina was assaulted by Master Cpl. Justin M. Caserta. Molina also contends in a lawsuit filed last month that he was the victim of the drunken cop’s unprovoked and violent outburst of homophobic violence.

Caserta, a 44-year-old veteran cop who in 1998 was Delaware’s high school football defensive player of the year, faces trial next month for third-degree assault.

Molina’s lawsuit, filed in Superior Court, adds accusations not in the arrest warrant, charging that Caserta’s actions amounted to a “hate crime” because he was attacked for being gay.

Molina, 25, was having an “innocent conversation” with the host’s daughter and Caserta’s 16-year-old son, the lawsuit alleges, when Caserta, “visibly intoxicated and driven by baseless paranoia, perceived this innocent interaction as a threat to his son, fueled by his own prejudices against Molina’s sexual orientation.”

“Get the f*** away from my son. He’s a minor,” Caserta shouted, according to the lawsuit and an account Molina gave WHYY News in an interview.

Then Caserta, who at 6 feet tall and 200 pounds is much bigger than Molina, dragged him outside, threw him to the ground and began choking him, police and Molina said.

Other partygoers pulled Caserta off Molina and the off-duty officer soon returned to his home in the same neighborhood where the suds-soaked bash was held, the lawsuit says.

Molina reported the incident to state police the next day. The assault charge was filed in August.

Caserta has been on paid leave since July and continues collecting his $105,200 salary, county police said.

Col. Jamie Leonard, who became New Castle County police chief in January, months after Caserta’s arrest, would not comment on the criminal and civil cases against the 20-year county police veteran.

Caserta’s criminal trial in the Kent County Court of Criminal Pleas had been scheduled for last week, but was postponed until May. Caserta’s defense lawyer, James Liguori, would not comment. No lawyer has yet entered his appearance on behalf of Caserta in the civil case, said Molina’s attorney, Ron Poliquin.

While Molina’s physical wounds have healed over the last nine months, the lawsuit said the sudden attack and its aftermath have left him in emotional distress, for which he seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

“The assault was not only a physical attack but a hate-fueled act of discrimination, motivated by Molina’s sexual orientation, a fact that adds a deeply disturbing layer to Caserta’s conduct,” the lawsuit says. “Caserta’s actions are particularly reprehensible given his role as a police officer, a position that should embody protection and justice, not violence and discrimination.”

Poliquin said that while he’s pleased state police filed the criminal charge, he’s disappointed none of several current and retired officers who were at the party when Molina was allegedly attacked notified police that night.

Nor did the arrest affidavit mention that Caserta was a cop, or say anything about what might have precipitated the alleged attack.

Mat Marshall of the Attorney General’s Office said Caserta wasn’t charged with a hate crime because the evidence shows that “the defendant appeared to be motivated by his belief that the victim was making romantic or sexual advances toward his child, rather than the victim’s sexual orientation.”

If convicted of the Class A misdemeanor, Caserta faces up to one year in prison but no mandatory time behind bars. Sentencing guidelines call for low-level probation.

Caserta ‘threw me down and got on top of me and choked me’

Molina, who worked as a paraprofessional in the Caesar Rodney School District when he was allegedly attacked, said he remains mystified by what transpired during the party at an old friend’s house in the midstate town of Smyrna.

Molina said he has known the retired county cop who owns the home, and his children, including a son who is a state trooper, for years. He did not know Caserta.

The so-called “Beer Olympics” involved a series of games that involved imbibing, Molina said. He’d been drinking earlier in the evening but was “in my right mind” when the incident occurred about midnight, Molina said.

The violence happened as he was talking with the owner’s daughter and Caserta’s son, Molina said.

At one point Caserta’s son was “sort of fixing himself up in the mirror” and the girl teased him, Molina recalled. “And I said, ‘Oh you look fine. Don’t worry about it.’ It’s my impression that Justin heard these comments and afterwards came up to me and said, ‘Get the f*** away from my son. He’s a minor.’”

“Then he grabbed me and I was just like, ‘What the f— is going on right now?’” Molina said. “There was really not much talking. He grabbed me by my lapel and dragged me outside, threw me down and got on top of me and choked me to the point of being unconscious and foaming at the mouth. Eventually in that process, someone pushed him off of me.”

Kaitlyn Giddings, a nurse who has known Molina since middle school and accompanied him to the party of their mutual friend, told WHYY News she heard yelling, saw the commotion and rushed over to the chaotic scene.

She found Molina “dazed and confused,” then ran to Justin Caserta and confronted him, she said.

“‘What the hell did you just do? What’s going on?’” she recalled demanding to know.

“He’s grooming my son. He’s a minor,” Caserta screamed, Giddings said.

Giddings said the accusation was ridiculous.

“Alex is not that way at all,” she said. “It was just a stupid situation.”