NATION : ‘Ailing’ Officer Wins Muscle Title

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. — A police officer on paid medical leave for two years has won a national body-building title, and town and union officials are less than happy about it.

Sgt. Walter J. Korzeniowski, 46, went on paid medical leave nearly two years ago, claiming that complaints against him from four of his fellow officers had created work-related stress. The officers alleged Korzeniowski slept on the job, failed to back up his fellow officers and assaulted juvenile suspects at the police station--once hitting a youth in the head with a phone directory.

He was cleared of the allegations, won medical leave and soon after opened the Training Room Gym. On Oct. 6, he captured the Amateur Athletic Union Masters title in Chicago, a competition for body builders over 40.