Markeshia Ricks Photo
Three months into their new walking beat downtown, two rookie cops were heading down Temple Street when they noticed two young guys hanging out in front of a business under construction.
Officers Daophet Sangxayarath and Jessee Buccaro (pictured above) walk by the business daily. On this day they noticed the pair blocking the doorway where workers typically enter and exit.
They followed up with what seemed like a routine quality-of-life stop. Little did they know they would end up playing a part in a murder case that occurred 40 miles away.
Buccaro at the scene of the arrest on Temple Street.
“Hey guys, you can’t block the doorway,” Buccaro (pictured) told them.
Buccaro noticed that one guy was tucking his hand oddly by his side, as though he were trying to hide something. He asked what the man had in his hand.
“I got a little something,” the man replied.
“It was obvious he had weed,” recalled Buccaro.
Buccaro said he told the guy he wasn’t going to bust him for a little weed. But he patted him down to make sure he didn’t have anything else on him other than the container that appeared to have previously held the marijuana the guy had been smoking.
Anticipating that he, too, would be patted down, the other man, who is 22,volunteered to the two cops that he had something on him that he wasn’t supposed to have: brass knuckles.
Sangxayarath (pictured), who is originally from Bridgeport and grew up in Shelton, said brass knuckles are illegal and considered a dangerous weapon.
“As we were about to stop him from reaching into his pockets, he reached for his pocket and pulled out the brass knuckles,” Buccaro said. “When I asked why he had them, he said they were in case he got jumped,” Buccaro said. “I had to take them from him, just in case he was the one doing the jumping. He was being pretty respectful, even when I informed him that we would have to arrest him for the brass knuckles.”
“I was surprised at how calm he was when we stopped to question them,” Sangxayarath said. The man asked for a summons. The officers told him that having the brass knuckles is a felony, and they were going to have him taken in. They checked to see if he had any additional charges; he didn’t.
The prisoner transport wagon came to take the man away. The other man was given an infraction and sent on his way because he had no outstanding warrants.
And that was that. Or so the officers believed.
Little did they know the 22-year-old man they arrested was wanted in connection with the March 11 stabbing death of a man in Stamford. The victim in that case was allegedly killed by a 15-year-old over spilled coffee. The man arrested on Temple Street was identified by a confidential informant as an alleged participant in that murder. Buccaro said the charges were so new that they hadn’t shown up yet. (Read the New Haven Register’s coverage of the Stamford incident here.)
Two young men passing by on Temple Street asked to have their pictures taken with officers Sangxayarath and Buccaro
The two rookie cops are just a year out of the police academy. Buccaro, who grew up in Guilford, said in their daily walks around the Green, and up and down Chapel, Temple, York and Elm streets, they spend a lot of time talking to people and getting familiar with the people whom their supervisor, top downtown cop Sgt. Tammi Means, calls “frequent fliers.” Mostly they deal with robberies and fights around the bus stops. Sometimes they catch people with small amounts of marijuana, or drinking in public.
This time it turned out to be a little more. So far, this arrest is the highest profile arrest they’ve made in their young careers.
Rookie cops like Sangxayarath and Buccaro have completed their field training and begun assignments as walking cops in the city’s 10 districts, a cornerstone of community policing. They’ve been formally meeting neighbors, business owners in their districts and attending management team and other community meetings.
Sangxayarath, who served four years in the Marine Corps right out of high school, said he became a police officer for the same reason he joined the military. “I joined the Marine Corps to protect and serve the country, and I became a police officer to protect and serve the community,” the 31-year-old said. “I wanted a job that was different every day and not your traditional 9 to 5.”
Buccaro said he’s wanted to be a police officer since he was a teen. He wanted a job where he felt he could help people and not sit in an office every day. The 24-year-old said some days it’s hard to tell whether he has helped someone, especially when that someone is “yelling and cussing at you.”
“But when you’ve responded to say a domestic violence issue and there are kids involved and DCF [the state Department of Children and Families] gets involved, and they get helped, or in a case like this where the work you did might help a person finally find some peace, it makes it worth it.”
Read other installments in the Independent’s “Cop of the Week” series:
• Shafiq Abdussabur
• Craig Alston & Billy White Jr.
• Joseph Aurora
• James Baker
• Lloyd Barrett
• Elsa Berrios
• Manmeet Bhagtana (Colon)
• Paul Bicki
• Paul Bicki (2)
• Sheree Biros
• Bitang
• Scott Branfuhr
• Bridget Brosnahan
• Keron Bryce and Osvaldo Garcia
• Dennis Burgh
• Anthony Campbell
• Darryl Cargill & Matt Wynne
• Elizabeth Chomka & Becky Fowler
• Rob Clark & Joe Roberts
• Sydney Collier
• Carlos Conceicao
• Carlos Conceicao (2)
• Carlos Conceicao and Josh Kyle
• David Coppola
• Mike Criscuolo
• Roy Davis
• Joe Dease
• Milton DeJesus
• Milton DeJesus (2)
• Brian Donnelly
• Anthony Duff
• Robert DuPont
• Jeremie Elliott and Scott Shumway
• Jeremie Elliott (2)
• Jose Escobar Sr.
• Bertram Ettienne
• Bertram Ettienne (2)
• Martin Feliciano & Lou DeCrescenzo
• Paul Finch
• Jeffrey Fletcher
• Renee Forte
• Marco Francia
• Michael Fumiatti
• William Gargone
• William Gargone & Mike Torre
• Derek Gartner
• Derek Gartner & Ryan Macuirzynski
• Tom Glynn & Matt Williams
• Jon Haddad & Daniela Rodriguez
• Michael Haines & Brendan Borer
• Michael Haines & Brendan Borer (2)
• Dan Hartnett
• Ray Hassett
• Robert Hayden
• Robin Higgins
• Ronnell Higgins
• William Hurley & Eddie Morrone
• Racheal Inconiglios
• Juan Ingles
• Paul Kenney
• Hilda Kilpatrick
• Herb Johnson
• John Kaczor & Alex Morgillo
• Jillian Knox
• Peter Krause
• Peter Krause (2)
• Amanda Leyda
• Rob Levy
• Anthony Maio
• Dana Martin
• Reggie McGlotten
• Steve McMorris
• Juan Monzon
• Chris Perrone
• Ron Perry
• Joe Pettola
• Diego Quintero and Elvin Rivera
• Ryan Przybylski
• Stephanie Redding
• Tony Reyes
• David Rivera
• Luis & David Rivera
• Luis Rivera (2)
• Salvador Rodriguez
• Salvador Rodriguez (2)
• Brett Runlett
• David Runlett
• Betsy Segui & Manmeet Colon
• Allen Smith
• Marcus Tavares
• Martin Tchakirides
• David Totino
• Stephan Torquati
• Gene Trotman Jr.
* Elisa Tuozzoli
• Kelly Turner
• Lars Vallin (& Xander)
• Dave Vega & Rafael Ramirez
• Earl Reed
• Arpad Tolnay
• John Velleca
• Manuella Vensel
• Holly Wasilewski
• Holly Wasilewski (2)
• Alan Wenk
• Stephanija VanWilgen
• Elizabeth White & Allyn Wright
• Matt Williams
• Michael Wuchek
• Michael Wuchek (2)
• David Zannelli
• Cailtin Zerella
• Caitlin Zerella, Derek Huelsman, David Diaz, Derek Werner, Nicholas Katz, and Paul Mandel
• David Zaweski