NY Judge Beaten With Toilet Lid After Arraignment

WATERLOO, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say a judge in an upstate New York village has been choked and hit on the head with a toilet tank lid as he locked up court after an arraignment.

Police in the Seneca County village of Waterloo say acting Judge Roger Barto was attacked from behind Saturday night with a toilet tank lid that had been placed in a nearby garbage container during building renovations.

Officers found Barto lying near the front door of the courtroom entrance. He was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, where he's listed in guarded condition.

Officials in the Finger Lakes village say Barto had been presiding over an arraignment for serious traffic violations, but police aren't connecting it to the beating.

No arrests have been reported in the case.

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