Another fete raises money for cop who helped cover arrest

JONATHAN D. JOSEY II isn't the only controversial cop around whom Philly cops have rallied.

Earlier this month, police in the 35th District held a fundraiser for their ousted commander, Capt. John McCloskey, who was suspended for 30 days without pay and reassigned to night command for his role in covering up a March arrest.

Supporters paid $50 per person to attend the "Appreciation Dinner" for McCloskey, held Oct. 7 in a Bridesburg catering hall. Proceeds paid for a "buffet, open bar, top shelf liquor and gift."

Rochelle Bilal, president of the Guardian Civic League and a McCloskey supporter, went to the dinner but declined to say how many attended, saying: "I didn't stand at the door and count."

But another source familiar with the event said that more than 100 people attended. Organizers gave McCloskey a check to cover living expenses during his unpaid suspension, the source said.

Bilal, who also planned to attend Josey's benefit, defended the efforts.

"What do you want this man to do, to lay down and die?" she said of Josey. "He had an incident; he made a mistake; they fired him from his job. Are you kidding me, for this, he's supposed to die, to not pay his bills, not take care of his daughter?"

McCloskey, a Guardian Civic League member, is "a good man," said Bilal, adding that he should not have been removed from the 35th District, headquartered at Broad Street and Champlost Avenue in Ogontz.

McCloskey couldn't be reached for comment.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey suspended McCloskey and Inspector Aaron Horne, commander of the Northwest Police Division, in August for allegedly covering up a scuffle between a pair of patrol cops and Rodney Handy, the 22-year-old grandson of retired police Capt. Arthur Woody. Horne allegedly ordered the officers to destroy paperwork of the incident, even though the officers used a Taser and were injured, and directed McCloskey to erase the arrest from the department's computer system.

The discipline disappointed some officers, who questioned why the men hadn't been criminally charged or fired.