How was James Burke caught? Source reveals disgraced ex-Gilgo Beach top cop's humiliating arrest
SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK: Sources have revealed shocking details of how James Burke, the former Suffolk County police commissioner who botched the Gilgo Beach serial killer case, was caught in a gay sex sting at a park notorious for illicit activity.
The source who talked to Daily Mail said that Burke, 59, was in a rental car with Rhode Island plates when he approached an undercover male park ranger at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Park in Farmingville on Tuesday morning.
Did James Burke offer s*x to a park ranger?
The park is known as a ‘pickle park’ by some locals because it is a "breeding ground for homosexual activity, prostitution and drugs."
The source said that Burke was "pleasuring himself" when he offered oral sex to the ranger and told him "how much he loves to suck d**k".
He also reportedly asked the ranger, "Do you know who I am?" and tried to avoid the arrest by saying it would be a "public humiliation."
What are the charges against James Burke?
Burke was arrested by Suffolk County Parks Rangers at 10.15 am and charged with offering a sex act, indecent exposure, public lewdness and criminal solicitation in the fifth degree.
He was released by the Sixth Precinct on Tuesday afternoon and is scheduled to be arraigned on September 11 in Islip.
This is not the first time that Burke has been involved in a scandal.
In July, the publication previously reported that Burke led a double life that allegedly included smoking crack, cross-dressing and relationships with prostitutes.
How did Gilgo Beach's attorney react to Burke's arrest?
He also bungled the investigation into the Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann who is believed to have murdered at least 10 people, mostly sex workers, between 1996 and 2011.
Attorney John Ray, who represents the families of two of the victims, Shannan Gilbert and Jessica Taylor, told the outlet that Burke has a "real devotion for advancing prostitution in his own backyard".
He also said that Burke "loves the excitement of risk" and that he would have known that the park was a high-risk area for arrest.
"He was investigating sex workers like a robber investigates robbers, he said.
"Burke was street smart who was praised by his own disciplinary officer as to his street savvy when he was still a police officer, so he would have known that area is a high-risk of arrest trap."