NHPD
From video of ex-Officer Santiago punching handcuffed man in face.
Two police officers who left the force in recent months — one after allegedly raping Fair Haven sex workers, the other after kicking a handcuffed suspect in the groin — are fighting to regain their badges.
The two ex-officers, Greg Gamarra and Jason Santiago, have each hired attorney Norm Pattis to press their cases.
Meanwhile, a newly released document details concerns raised in a pre-hiring background check that police commissioners received before voting to allow Gamarra to join the force. (More about that later in this story.)
Gamarra resigned in December amid an internal affairs investigation into allegations that he repeatedly raped at least one Fair Haven sex worker, and perhaps more. He admitted to having sex with at least one sex worker, but claimed it was consensual. The IA investigation has yet to conclude, so the department hasn’t released details of it. The state’s attorney’s office is investigating the case with an eye toward possibly bringing criminal charges.
“We’re going to the [state] Department of Labor claiming union and management colluded against this man, depriving him of his rights under the contract and rights to representation. He wants to be heard,” Pattis told the Independent.
“There was consensual contact. He denies the claim of rape. He was pressured by the union and the city to resign, for fear if he didn’t it would become a public controversy. Now it’s become a public controversy. He resigned under duress.”
Gamarra made a similar statement to the Independent for the story that first reported his case: “I felt they were coming at me hard. I broke down. I was nervous. I was incoherent. I’m probably going to go through therapy. I’ve been depressed … The fact that I made a mistake, whether it was good or bad, I’ve been a cop in Fair Haven for four years. I’ve always done the job the best way I can. ”
Police union President Florencio Cotto did not respond to a request for comment about Pattis’s accusation that the union failed to represent Gamarra and colluded with management. Chief Otoniel Reyes said last month that he would have moved to fire Gamarra if he hadn’t resigned: ““We felt strongly there was substance to the allegations. We had an obligation to uncover it. This is one individual that violated the public’s trust and dishonored the badge. There’s absolutely no tolerance for any officer that will break the law.”
Reyes did move to fire Jason Santiago. And the union did represent Santiago when the Board of Police Commissioners voted 4 – 2 to fire him on June 16 for kicking a handcuffed man in the groin, pulling him by his braids, and punching him in the face during an arrest the previous Christmas. Santiago was subsequently arrested, charged with third-degree assault and second-degree breach of peace. He has yet to enter a plea in that case; he is next scheduled in court on April 30.
Meanwhile, Pattis has represented him in arbitration hearings at the state labor board. Four days of hearings have occurred so far, with one more scheduled next month. Pattis argued that “the department got its knickers in a twist about the George Floyd incident and went looking for a scapegoat. They selected Mr. Santiago.” The chief argued that assaulting a person in handcuffs crossed a line of acceptable behavior by police.
Police Commission Ignored Warnings
Allan Appel pre-pandemic file photo
Police Commissioners Greg Smith, Kevin Diaz, and Donald Walker.
It turns out that the Police Commission had been warned against hiring Gamarra, in a background check report.
Gamarra’s background check took place in 2016. The Independent Wednesday received a copy of the report about that check in response to a request made under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act. (Read the document here.)
The report states that Gamarra’s girlfriend obtained a protective order against him in 2013.
His explanation, as recorded in the report: “[T]he applicant stated he suspected his girlfriend was cheating on him. [He] drove to a residence … to confirm his suspicions,” then started banging on the window when he saw her inside with another man.
Police were called, and arrested Gamarra. The case was eventually nolled “after his girlfriend told the prosecutor that he was not a violent person,” the report stated. ““As a result of the applicant’s arrest, a protective order was issued against him listing his girlfriend as the protective party.”
The report also states that in a background interview, Gamarra “omitted” mention of the fact that at 18 “he had sexual intercourse” with a 15-year-old girlfriend. He discussed that fact during a subsequent polygraph examination.
In that examination, the polygrapher noticed Gamarra “display[ing] significant and consistent physiological reactions when he was questioned about undetected crimes against a person.”
“Also the applicant had inconclusive results about his involvement with illegal drugs and falsifying or omitting information in the test booklet. The reactions observed by the polygrapher are indicative of deception and the application was recommended to be retested,” the report stated. He did better on the second test.
The report cited conversations with Gamarra’s two references from when he worked as a cashier at Shoprite a year before becoming a cop: “Both indicated that the applicant was immature at the time of his employment. Also, [one reference] stated the applicant was defensive when receiving constructive criticism.”
The report went to the Board of Police Commissioners in time for its Sept. 13, 2016 meeting, at which it would vote on whether or not to hire Gamarra.
Commissioner Stephen Garcia moved to remove Gamarra from the hiring list. Garcia, Anthony Dawson and Greg Smith then voted in favor of that motion — to remove Gamarra from the list, according to the meeting minutes. But three other commissioners, Kevin Diaz, Evelise Ribiero, and Donald Walker, voted not. That means the motion failed. That meant Gamarra remained on the list, got his badge, and eventually began patrolling Fair Haven and having sex with at least one sex worker (and allegedly at least one more) in his car.
“Obviously if we had known this was going to happen, we never would be having this conversation,” Commissioner Walker said when asked Wednesday about that 2016 vote. “We’re not perfect. We’re human beings. Sometimes we’re going to make a mistake. We’re trying to do the best we can for the city.”
“We can’t make it a serious habit of letting those things get through the cracks,” Commissioner Dawson told the Independent. “I hope that justice is done.”