by JONATHAN LEMIRE
Three brothers with rap sheets who are due in court today for the vicious beating of a firefighter on the anniversary of Sept. 11 will be confronted by an angry sea of New York's Bravest. Hundreds of firefighters are expected to descend on Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead to show their support for injured colleague Richard Berkhout - and their fury at the suspects. "We wouldn't be upset if these guys felt intimidated," said Firefighter Hugh Diamond, who has worked with the popular Berkhout at Engine 298 in Queens for eight years. "We want as many guys as we can to be there." Members of the Hillside Ave. firehouse have kept vigil at Berkhout's Brookhaven Memorial Hospital bed, where he is recovering from a fractured skull. They've spread word that their pal - a fixture at charitable events for the FDNY and his hometown of Mastic Beach - needed support. After attending a 9/11 memorial last Monday, Berkhout was walking with his wife, Margaret, when a car recklessly sped past them, and he yelled at it. The car skidded to a stop, and three men got out: 28-year-old twins Darnell and Darian Taylor, and their 25-year-old brother Christopher Robinson, cops said. The thugs set upon Berkhout, pummeling him with their fists and feet, cops said. Margaret, who was unharmed, managed to swipe their keys and run off, slowing the siblings' escape. All three have arrest records, and Robinson had been released from an upstate prison just hours before the attack after serving four years for felony assault, officials said. Berkhout's friends said he is one of the most popular members of the Hillside Hurricanes, quick with a booming laugh or helping hand, as well as the organizer of a firehouse scholarship fund and a firefighter retreat in Montauk, which was held yesterday - without him. "He's a good firefighter, a good father and a good friend," Diamond said. "We want him to get back to the firehouse as soon as possible."
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