The FBI wants to see what Jennifer Gondola recorded on her camera phone last weekend in New Haven. She isn’t saying yes, yet.
The agency Tuesday joined a New Haven police department internal civil-rights investigation into an alleged beating of a handcuffed man who’d been fighting with cops in the Temple Plaza courtyard behind Pulse nightclub early Saturday.
An Ansonia woman named Jennifer Gondola, who had been at Pulse with friends, recorded the alleged beating — confirmed by her and other witness in Independent interviews — on her cell phone.
(The above video is not the one Gondola recorded. The above video, obtained by the Independent, was shot by another witness; it captures events leading up to the alleged beating that Gondola said she recorded.)
Gondola said Sgt. Chris Rubino interrupted the beating to demand she turn over the phone. She refused, put it in her bra. Rubino then ordered a female officer to retrieve it. Then he ordered Gondola arrested for “interfering.” He refused to return her phone. He said he needed it for “evidence.” Police union President Arpad Tolnay defended Rubino’s actions, saying he needed “evidence” of a “crime.” Gondola said the only “crime” she recorded involved Rubino’s own actions. (Read about that in this story.)
It is not known if Rubino, who pocketed the phone, erased the video.
The department launched an internal investigation into the incident Monday upon being contacted about it from the Independent. The department is looking into whether Rubino violated a department order against preventing citizens from recording officers’ actions in public. (Read about the order here.)
Tamara Harris Photo
The FBI joined the case after seeing a photo (above) in an Independent story showing Rubino’s foot on the handcuffed suspect’s head, according to someone close to the investigation. This person said the FBI’s interest appears to center more on “the arrest of the guy who is on the ground” than on the camera-grab.
“Although the investigations are independent of one another, the two agencies are cooperating,” a police press release stated Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the police have put out a call to witnesses to come forward with any videos or photos from the incident. Lt. Anthony Duff, head of internal affairs, asked people to contact him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
A crowd in the plaza watched the incident. Many had cellphones out. However, most stopped recording when ordered to by police, who told witnesses to leave the scene. Gondola stayed and kept filming.
She and a friend with her, Tamara Harris, said that’s when the real beating began. They said Rubino and others kicked and beat the suspect in the head, which was bloodied.
The man had been resisting arrest before that, after being ordered by officers to leave the plaza, according to police. It was 1:45 a.m. The bars were letting out. Several unruly people were causing trouble, a common occurrence in the downtown bar district on weekends. Police told a group of men to disperse. The man who ends up on the ground in handcuffs fought the cops, police said. Police said they arrested him for the same interfering and breach of peace offenses at bar closing time the next night. He’s 24 and from Bridgeport. He was previously found guilty of resisting arrest and interfering with cops in 2007, according to the state judicial website.
“You see a group of [four to five] cops walking toward [the man]. They start joining Rubino. And they join him in assaulting them,” Gondola said of her video.
She said the police called her Tuesday asking to see the video.
“They asked me to come in in order for the FBI to review my cell phone, to sign a consent, or else they’ll use a warrant. They told me either way they’re going to get it with a warrant or my consent,” Gondola said Wednesday.
She replied that she wants to consult her attorney first. Her attorney told her to hold off until they can meet and discuss the matter further.
Police spokesman Officer David Hartman said she has been “very cooperative” with police.
Since Tuesday afternoon, the Independent has reviewed two more videos shot by witnesses to the incident. But the videos show only the events leading up to the alleged beating, when Gondola’s video is believed to begin.
One of the videos appears at the top of the story. The person who shot it does not want to be identified. At 1 minute and 21 seconds, it does show Rubino’s foot on the suspect’s head, as does Harris’s photo. It does not appear to show any brutality.
Paul Bass Photo
A second video was shot by Devon Youmans (pictured), a 22-year-old party promoter who had organized an event inside Pulse that night.
He said in an interview at his home Wednesday that he was leaving the club along with the rest of the crowd when he came upon the fracas in the plaza.
He said he saw a “cop with a raincoat” punch the suspect in the face.
He then shot a video similar to one at the top of this story. It shows cops telling people to leave the scene. Youmans said he complied with the request and returned to the club.
The Independent watched it on Youmans HTC cell phone. Youmans, who’s 22, developed his video skills in high school in part through a project called “Reel News,” run by Youth Rights Media in conjunction with the Independent. (Click here to watch a video interview he did with Lt. Ray Hassett.)
“Stepping On His Face”
In a previous interview earlier in the week, Gondola described what she saw.
“The kid was anklecuffed and handcuffed. He was talking shit to them. He was on the ground. Blood was coming out of his mouth,” Gondola said. “They were hitting him.”
“They were roughhousing him. Stepping on his face. Kneeing in his back,” said Gondola’s friend, Harris, who was alongside her and taking still photos. Sgt. Rubino was doing the bulk of the beating, Harris said, “stepping on the guy’s head, doing all this extra stuff when he was already handcuffed.”
Harris said she saw Rubino look up from the beating and notice Gondola with the camera. He immediately left the arrestee and approached Gondola, Harris said. “He went to snatch her phone. ‘I want your phone.’ She’s like, ‘No!’ He got mad.”
Here’s what happened next, according to Gondola (pictured):
“Stop filming right now!” Rubino ordered her.
“No this is my civil right,” she recalled saying. Gondola said she’s “always on all these news sites” reading about recent cases in which cops got in trouble for snatching cameras from citizens.
“Well, I have to right to review it,” Rubino allegedly told her.
Gondola claimed she remained “very quiet and calm” and “pressed play” to show him the video. “But I didn’t let him touch my phone.”
Rubino’s response, according to Gondola: “It’s evidence of a crime. You need to give it to me right now.”
Her response to his response: “I’m not giving you the phone.”
His next response: “If you don’t give me the phone, you’re getting arrested.”
So Gondola slipped the phone into her bra. Rubino “twisted my hand hard behind me and put the cuffs on me. Really tight. My wrists are black and blue,” she said.
Rubino next ordered a female officer to pat her down and commanded, “I want that phone out of her bra.” The woman removed the phone. Rubino “put it in his pocket,” Gondola said. An officer walked her to a prisoner transport vehicle. It was full with men already arrested during the mayhem in the plaza. She was next escorted to the back of a police car and driven to police headquarters at 1 Union Ave. to be booked.
Except for Rubino, all the cops treated her courteously, Gondola said. She eventually left the police station with a ticket for “interfering” with police.
Before leaving she encountered Rubino again. She asked for her phone back.
“No,” he allegedly replied. “That’s evidence.”