According to an affidavit by FBI agent Joseph Foelsch, Haitian
immigrant Patrick Antoine told investigators that Volpe hit him with
a flashlight during an assault at Glenwood Road and Flatbush Ave.
in Brooklyn on Aug. 9, 1997.

The affidavit was turned over to defense
lawyers late Monday in connection with the
federal prosecution of five cops charged with
violating the civil rights of Antoine and another
Haitian immigrant, Abner Louima.

Volpe is accused of sodomizing Louima with a
wooden stick in a bathroom of the Brooklyn
stationhouse after a melee outside a Flatbush
nightclub.

The court papers do not indicate whether the flashlights have been
tested for evidence that could link them to the alleged assault on
Antoine.

"Until they are connected to any crime, I don't see any relevancy
to the fact that they found the flashlights in his locker," said Volpe's
attorney, Marvyn Kornberg.

A source said the letter "V" had been scratched onto two of the
flashlights. They were seized Oct. 16 by FBI agents executing a
search warrant, other sources said.

Volpe's locker was searched by Internal Affairs Bureau
investigators a year ago, but the October check was apparently
the first time it was searched by the feds.

During the 1997 search, investigators were looking for a stick or
plunger that may have been used in the alleged attack on Louima.
None was found.

-- Helen Peterson { Daily News } - 11/11/98