B'KLYN COPS INDICTED IN 'SUICIDE BRAWL'

Two are charged with assault, one with picking up bullet shells, and one
for not reporting the incident. Four Brooklyn narcotics detectives have
been indicted on charges stemming from a drunken bar brawl between cops and
a restaurant employee who later killed himself, The Post has learned.

The restaurant worker, Reginald Bannerman, jumped in front of a subway
train about three hours after the violence.

Detectives Mark Cooper and Lloyd Barnaby are charged in the indictment, to
be unsealed today, with assaulting Bannerman on Dec. 19, 1997, outside the
BBB restaurant in Crown Heights, said sources close to the case.

Detective Ed Howard is charged with helping others pick up shells from
bullets fired by the cops during the melee.

A fourth cop, Detective Orice Connor, is charged with not reporting the
incident, sources say.

They are all expected to be arraigned tomorrow.

Three other detectives believed to be at the scene of the beating - Otis
Hunt, Chris Randall, and Brian Marrow - have not been charged.

"The prosecutors are putting the screws to a few people, trying to fill in
some holes in what happened," said a source.

The biggest mystery is which of the cops started the fight.

Sources said Bannerman was working as a porter at the BBB when he asked the
cops, there to celebrate a birthday party, to keep it down.

When Bannerman left the bar later that night to go home, an unknown officer
confronted him outside and began punching and kicking him, sources said.

Bannerman's brother George, a bartender, tried to intervene, but Cooper
allegedly pointed a gun at this head and ordered him not to move.

Bannerman escaped and ran down the street, while one or more cops fired
shots in the air, sources said.

According to the indictment, six months after the fight, Barnaby threatened
a waitress who was a witness in the case.

Barnaby, a decorated Air Force veteran, "completely denies that he was
involved in any wrongdoing," said his lawyer, Dino Lombardi.

Lombardi said he's worried that his client, who worked as an undercover
narcotics detective, could become easy prey if sent to jail on high bail.

Marvyn Kornberg, who represents Connor and Howard, said prosecutors "are
going to have a sad awakening when this comes to trial.

"Both Officer Connor and Officer Howard were not present at the time the
incident took place," Kornberg said.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes is expected to announce the
indictments this morning.

Checked-by: Richard Lake