Disgraced Police Chief Accused of Botching Long Island Serial Killer Case ARRESTED on Suspicion of Soliciting a Sex Worker

The disgraced police chief accused of botching an early investigation into the Long Island serial killer was arrested this week for allegedly soliciting a sex worker in New York, RadarOnline.com can report.

Ex-Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, 59, was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of soliciting a sex worker at the Suffolk County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park in Selden.

According to the Sun, Burke was charged with offering a sex act, public lewdness, indecent exposure, and criminal solicitation. Additional charges are pending.

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Burke first made headlines last month after Long Island serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann was arrested on July 13 in connection to the killing of three Gilgo Beach murder victims.

Burke, who was hired as the police chief of Suffolk County in 2011, was accused of botching the FBI’s initial investigation into the Gilgo Beach murders because the agency was also investigating an incident involving Burke and a heroin addict named Christopher Loeb.

According to court documents, Burke beat up Loeb in 2012 after Loeb stole a bag full of sex toys and a porn DVD showing women being tortured from Burke's patrol car.

The beating reportedly took place inside an interrogation room at the Suffolk County Police headquarters. Burke allegedly threatened to kill Loeb before he was stopped by a junior officer.

Reports also claimed that Burke threatened to give Loeb a lethal “hot dose” of heroin for stealing his bag.

Although the FBI initially joined the investigation into the Gilgo Beach murders and Long Island serial killer, Burke reportedly removed the bureau from the investigation because they were also probing his attack on Loeb.

“[Burke] never wanted us involved in the [Gilgo Beach] case because he knew we were investigating him,” one FBI source told the New York Post in 2015.

Burke ultimately resigned as Suffolk County police chief in October 2015 following the controversy. He was then sentenced to 46 months in prison in 2016 for his attack on Loeb and the subsequent cover-up.

Meanwhile, Burke’s controversial history and penchant for prostitutes likely would not have come to light if Heuermann was not arrested last month in connection to the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello.

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As this outlet reported, Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello were just three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders.

Heuermann also remains the main suspect in the disappearance and death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.

All four victims – since dubbed the Gilgo Four – disappeared and were killed between 2007 and 2010. Their bodies were not found until their remains washed up onshore within a quarter-mile of each other near Gilgo Beach in late 2010.

Heuermann pleaded not guilty to six charges on August 1 in a Yaphank, New York, courtroom. He currently faces three counts of murder in the first degree and three counts of murder in the second degree.