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Hartford Courant - Man Convicted In Rocky Hill Gun Incident Sues Police

Posted on Mar 09 2009

ROCKY HILL — "A man who was shot at by police after he repeatedly pointed a rifle at officers during an incident in 2007 is suing the town, saying police used excessive force.

Derek Greenwald's lawsuit was filed last month in Superior Court in Hartford and has since been moved to U.S. District Court. It names Police Chief Michael Custer and eight officers — including a lieutenant and a sergeant — who were at the tense scene on the night of Nov. 9, 2007. They are being sued as individuals and in their official capacities; Greenwald is asking for more than $2,500.

The lawsuit says police arrested Greenwald without probable cause and says, "At no time did the plaintiff threaten or pose a danger of bodily harm."

The suit doesn't mention that Greenwald had a gun and that he was arrested and convicted of two counts of criminal attempt to commit assault on an officer. Neither Greenwald's lawyer, A. Paul Spinella, nor Custer could be reached for comment.

The suit says Greenwald "suffered disabling injuries, including ... post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, loss of dignity, anxiety, loss of professional job, loss of enjoyment of life's activities, emotional distress and psychological pain and suffering."

The suit accuses Custer of failing to properly monitor and investigate such incidents and to train officers how to respond to situations involving emotionally disturbed people.

According to a police report, the incident began when a woman called police at 5:41 p.m. to tell them her ex-boyfriend had said he was going to shoot himself. Eight officers responded to Greenwald's house on Farmstead Road, where they found him in his backyard holding a rifle, police said.

When officers tried to talk to him, "he pointed the rifle at Officers [Joseph] Phelps and [Jon] Lammers," a police report says. He then ran toward a wooded area that separates some backyards on Farmstead Road from an adjoining business, Double A Transportation.
Officers tried to convince Greenwald to drop the gun, but he refused, pointing it at Phelps and Lammers "several times," the report says. Greenwald ran into the wooded area and kept moving in and out of the tree line, police said. All the while, he pointed the rifle at Phelps and Lammers, police said.

Greenwald then approached Sgt. Leonard Kulas and Det. Andrew O'Brien, who were on the Double A Transportation property. He was holding the rifle straight out in front of him, the report says, and he began to raise the muzzle end of the gun. The officers aimed their handguns at him and yelled for him to put the rifle down, but he "continued to raise the muzzle of the rifle" toward the officers, the report says.

O'Brien fired his gun twice and Greenwald dropped to the ground, but he wasn't injured.

The lawsuit describes a different scenario.

It says officers "began charging" Greenwald, screaming "in an unintelligible, chaotic fashion." Greenwald was terrified, according to the lawsuit.

"Because of the darkness, and the blinding flashlight rays trained upon him, the plaintiff could not reasonably identify the men rushing at him as police officers," the suit says.

While running away, according to the lawsuit, he heard one of the men chasing him yell, "I've got a shot!" to which another responded, "Take it!"

Then, as he approached Kulas and O'Brien, the suit says, they "failed to adequately identify themselves as police officers."

By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY -
The Hartford Courant