(Updated: Friday 8:35 a.m.) The police said they were stopping a riot. The young men and their parents said the cops attacked them and sent one to the hospital.
Now the young man, Jonathan Avila (pictured after his arrest and alleged beating), is among the plaintiffs in a federal civil rights suit against city police.
(Click here to read the suit.)
The immigrants’ rights group Unidad Latina en Accion (ULA) filed the lawsuit on behalf of six Latinos in New Haven who alleged a pattern of misconduct against them by city police, in particular one officer. ULA held a press conference Monday afternoon to announce the suit. The group began the press conference at the federal courthouse across from the Green, then marched to the police station. Click here to read an account of that rally.
The group’s lawyer, Paul Garlinghouse, based the suit on a “Monell claim,” which means the city allegedly exhibited deliberate indifference towards police misconduct. The three incidents in question include the February “riot” and a previously reported case involved a man named Abel Sanchez. (Click here to read about that case.) Sanchez is an immigrant, and member of ULA. The other plaintiffs are not immigrants.
All six plaintiffs accuse the same officer, Dennis O’Connell, of beating them and of otherwise violating their rights. O’Connell is also accused of misconduct in the Sanchez case and another case on May 1, where he allegedly punched one of the plaintiffs in the face while arresting him.
“That — to me — is a clear indication that the city is responsible,” Garlinghouse said. “Because they have an Internal Affairs process that is so poor that they have cases going back to last year and still they have done nothing.”
“The New Haven Police Department takes all complaints and concerns very seriously,” wrote city spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga in an email in response to the suit. “The Department’s administration is committed to the community and will be sure to look into what may or may not have occurred concerning these allegations.”
The February “Riot”
Jonathan Avila [pictured after his arrest] and Lamar Morrison, residents of Scott Ridge housing projects on Eastern Street, were arrested in the parking lot of their housing complex in February for allegedly “inciting to riot.” No bricks were thrown, no fires were started, no windows were broken. Only the young men who wound up in police custody had their blood shed.
When the case went to court, it was thrown out by the judge, according to Miguel and Noraima Avila, Jonathan’s parents [pictured standing in their doorway].
The police report and the Internal Values and Ethics complaints tell two very different stories. Click here to read the complaint. Click here to read the police report.
Avila and Morrison’s families filed a complaint with Internal Values and Ethics two days after the incident. They said the department has not contacted them since.
“It’s like they don’t care,” said Miguel Avila (pictured at the top of this story with his wife Noraima).
Conflicting Stories –
According to witnesses who live at 425 Eastern St., Jonathan Avila and Lamar Morrison were upstairs at the Avila residence when a squad car pulled into the parking lot and began to question a group of three or four young men standing in front of the Avilas’ apartment.
Veronica, who was outside of her apartment at the time, said she heard Officer O’Connell, say “Where the guns at?” as he got out of the car and walked towards them, before searching them.
Lamar came downstairs, according to his affidavit, because his brother Lovale was one of the boys getting searched.
In her affidavit, Veronica Morrison said her son Lamar came out to stand on the porch, and Jonathan Avila followed, standing in his doorway, and asked what was going on.
“The Officer Dennis [O’Connell] started yelling and told him to shut the fuck up. Then Lamar Morrison asked him why is [sic] was talking to them like that? Then Lamar started to walk away and go home when the officer Oconela [sic] asked him where he was going Lamar said home the officer [O’Connell] said no your not then grabbed him punched him and slammed him against the wall of the appt. [sic]. Lamar fell to the ground and officer [O’Connell] punched him to [sic] more times. I (Lamar Mother Veronica Morrison) ran over to my son and picked him up and was walking to the house with him when Officer Dennis [O’Connell] ran over to us and said he was under arrest then officer [O’Connell] pushed me out of the way and handcuffed him.”
Interviewed at her home last month, Veronica Morrison said the police violently threw him in the squad car, pepper sprayed him, and punched him three or four more times.
“I asked him what his name was and he told me to shut the fuck up and get in the house. He told my son that he was going to get his friend next,” Morrison wrote in her affidavit.
Lamar was charged with disorderly conduct, interfering with police, and inciting to riot, according to the police report.
“The cop push me against the wall and punch me about three times in my face. He place me under arrest,” Lamar Morrison wrote in the civilian complaint form. “When I was in the cop car he punch me again and [maced] me for no reason at all. I never resisted arrest at any time and that’s when I seen him go in my neighbor’s house.”
According to Veronica Morrison’s affidavit, Jonathan Avila’s mother tried to close the door of her apartment to keep the police from coming in their house next. But O’Connell forced his way in and put his badge in his pocket, according to the affidavit.
“Jonathan’s father was standing in front of Jonathan Avila. He grabbed Jonathan and started choking him and then head butted him four times. Officer [O’Connell] then told his partner to [mace] Jonathan’s parents so they couldn’t see what was going on.”
Noraima Avila said she was sprayed in the face by Officer Maturo after she screamed that O’Connell was breaking all of the dishes and glasses in her kitchen. Avila’s parents say O’Connell then brought Jonathan out to the back porch and beat him with the base of a marble table.
After Jonathan Avila was in handcuffs, O’Connell allegedly “then started punching and stomping on Jonathan for about ten to fifteen minutes more,” Morrison wrote. The blood soaked T‑shirt Jonathan was wearing is pictured at left.
Morrison said she dialed 911 to get more police to come, fearing O’Connell might kill Jonathan. It wasn’t until the other cars came, Morrison said, that the beating stopped.
When the violence stopped, Miguel Avila said, the police began trying to cover their tracks, pouring a solvent over the blood on the porch and soaking up the blood in the kitchen.
O’Connell’s Version
O’Connell’s police report tells a radically different story.
According to the police report, a growing crowd of black males began coming out of their apartments as O’Connell “patted down” a group of men standing in front of “apartment J.”
“As I was patting down one of the [black males] I observed the door to apartment J open up. I observed a heavy set [black female] walk out and approach me. I asked the b/f to please step back.,” O’Connell wrote.
Jonathan Avila came out of the house, followed by Lamar Morrison, according to the police report.
“I told the group of 5 – 6 [black males] that they could not congregate all night around other residents doors in the complex,” O’Connell wrote in the police report. “ Mr. Avila then came off his porch and stated to me ‘We can do whatever the fuck we want to. We live here’ I told Mr. Avila to go back onto his porch and not to interfere with me. He told me ‘you cannot do shit I live her [sic]’ I then observed another [black male] walk out of Mr. Avila’s apt. This [black male] later [identified] to me as Lamar Morrison approached me and began to say “All you do is harrass [sic] us we aint doing nothing this is bullshit’.”
According to O’Connell’s report, it was the two young men — not the spectacle of a police car — that drew the attention of a crowd of men.
“At this time a small crowd of about 10 – 15 [black males] began to gather around myself and Ofc. Maturo. I observed more [black males] begin to walk towards us. Mr. Morrison continued to incite the crowd by saying ‘These cops always fuck with us, I am sick of this shit.’ I observed this [crowd] begin to voice their hostiletys [sic] towards [us] by saying ‘fuck these motherfuckers.’ I attempted to place my arm on Mr. Morrison as he was continuing to incite the crowd.”
According to O’Connell, Morrison “quickly spun around in an offensive posture.” O’Connell did not say he punched Morrison at any point in the confrontation, but said he pushed him against the wall. “After a short struggle I was able to place handcuffs on Mr. Morrison and placed him in the rear of my police car.”
Whereas the Avilas and Morrisons said O’Connell went up to the Avila residence, O’Connell said Avila ran over to the squad car and challenged O’Connell to a fight.
“As I began to call the dispatcher for more assistance, I observed Mr. Avila run out of his apt. towards me. Mr. Avila began to say ‘Fuck this motherfucker. I will fuck you up.’ Mr. Avila attempted to push past his mother, who was attempting to hold him back. I ordered Mr. Avila to get back into his house,” O’Connell wrote. “Mr. Avila continued to incite the growing ©rowd by say [sic] ‘Let’s fuck this motherfucker up.’ As the crowd began to become more hostile I again called for more units on my police radio.”
According to O’Connell’s report Avilla dared O’Connell to come get him, allegedly saying “take that badge off you faggot.” O’Connell does not write in the report if he did or did not take it off.
In the kitchen, where witnesses said O’Connell headbutted and choked Avila before dragging him out to the porch, O’Connell wrote he was struggling with Jonathan and feared he would lose control of his gun.
“I tried to break free from Mr. Avila to create some distance between us. Mr. Avila refused to let go of his grip. Due to the close proximity between us I was unable to to use my pepper spray or baton on him. I then struck Mr. Avila several times in the face using my right hand to break free from his grasp. After several strikes Mr. Avila let go.”
Then a crowd of black and Hispanic neighbors poured into the house, according to the police report, and Officer Maturo attempted to hold them back, and then “Mr. Avila spit directly into [Maturo’s] face, causing blood other fluids to get on or in his eyes and mouth,” O’Connell wrote.
The police said Maturo used his O/C spray “to fend off the males in the apartment that began to charge at us.”
Witnesses said Avila was deliberately slammed into a cabinet full of glass. O’Connell wrote the cabinet was knocked over as they wrestled.
“Mr. Avila then attempted to run out the back door on to a second story deck outside. I tackled Mr. Avila as he attempted to clime [sic] over the wooden railing and brought him back down to the deck floor. I was able to cuff Mr. Avila with the assistance of several other officers. Mr. Avila did have a heavy odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath at the time of his arrest.”
Morrison was taken directly to the police station for booking, while Avila was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital for his injuries. Avila was charged with assault on a peace officer, interfering with police, inciting to riot, and disorderly conduct, according to the police report.
Avila is currently incarcerated for violating probation, “for smoking weed,” Noraima Avila said.
Lamar Morrison, who had never been arrested before, used his youthful offender and is under a court order to stay out of trouble for two years, his mother said.
The Independent previously reported that Lamar was incarcerated, and apologizes for the error.