NEW YORK - THREE police officers were due in court on Tuesday to face criminal charges stemming from claims by a tattoo parlor worker that he was sodomised with a piece of police equipment during an arrest.

Officers Richard Kern, Alex Cruz and Andrew Morales were indicted last week by a grand jury investigating the shocking allegations, according to a law enforcement official who declined to detail the charges.

Another law enforcement official said the grand jury had been presented incriminating forensic evidence collected by investigators. That evidence, combined with a witness account, pointed to Kern as the main assailant, the official said.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the indictment was sealed. The district attorney's office has refused to comment but was expected to announce the charges on Tuesday.

Defence attorneys say the officers didn't do anything wrong.

'We don't know what the people's proof is, but as far as I'm concerned my client is not guilty,' said Kern's attorney, John Patten.

Said Cruz's lawyer, Stuart London, 'He never observed any misconduct nor engaged in any misconduct.'

The accused officers approached Michael Mineo on Oct 15 outside a subway station because they believed he was smoking marijuana, police said. When he fled into the station, they and two other uniformed officers wrestled him to the ground face down and handcuffed him.

Mineo, a 24-year-old body piercer, claims that during the struggle his pants were pulled down and one of the officers sodomised him as he screamed out in pain. He says he believed he was violated with the antenna of a handheld radio and that the assailant was Cruz.

But a transit officer called as a grand jury witness early last month testified that he saw Kern wield a baton and put it near Mineo's buttocks, according to one of the law enforcement officials.

The transit officer was among those who helped subdue Mineo, but he has not been charged.

After Mineo was given a ticket for disorderly conduct and released, he was hospitalised for several days. Hospital discharge papers show that upon arrival he was diagnosed with 'anal assault.' The district attorney's office launched the grand jury investigation in late October when the allegations came to light.

The officers were placed on desk duty pending the outcome of the case. -- AP