Chief Moves To Fire Cop For Excessive Force

During a Christmas morning roadside dispute in Fair Haven, Officer Jason Santiago kicked an intoxicated man in the groin as the latter lay handcuffed on the ground.

He then pulled the 35-year-old up by his braids — and punched him in the face with a closed fist, after the man spit in the officer’s face.

Those actions are detailed in a newly completed New Haven Police Department Internal Affairs investigative report.

The Independent obtained a 19-page summary of the investigation and its conclusions Thursday night after filing a Connecticut Freedom of Information Act request.

Police Chief Otoniel Reyes has referred charges against Santiago to the Board of Police Commissioners. He said he is recommending that the commissioners fire Santiago after hearing the case on June 16.

The charges state that Santiago violated the department’s use of force and de-escalation policies, as well its general rules of conduct (General Orders 6.01.02, 6.01.04, and 1.03.05).

Reyes said that Santiago is also currently under investigation by the state’s attorney’s office, which is considering filing criminal charges against the officer.

“I support the actions of the state’s attorney no matter what they are,” Reyes said. ​“I understand that this officer’s actions violated not only department policy, but they may have also violated criminal law.”

“This is a dark day for the department,” the chief continued. ​“Because this is not what we stand for. This is not what we are about.

“What’s important for the community to know here is that we as a department will not tolerate police brutality in any form. We will not condone this behavior.”

The incident itself took place on Dec. 25, 2019. According to the investigative report, It involved an intoxicated man who who got into an argument with police as they tried to get him to move out of the way so that a tow truck could tow away his busted van. (Above is body-camera footage of the encounter, with the key moments beginning around the 4:30 point.)

What started out as a verbal dispute soon turned physical, as four officers wrestled the man into handcuffs — and then a fed-up Santiago kicked the man in the groin, pulled him by the hair, and punched him in the face after the man apparently spit in Santiago’s mouth and eyes.

As detailed in the IA report, the department didn’t learn about Santiago’s actions until March.

That’s when the Litchfield state’s attorney — who was prosecuting the man arrested that Christmas morning for allegedly assaulting an officer and breach of peace — noted discrepancies between the incident report filed by arresting Officer Michael Hinton and the body camera footage recorded by Hinton and Santiago.

“I have serious concerns about the use of force used against [the arrestee] by arresting officers,” Assistant States Attorney Jennifer Lindade emailed New Haven Lt. and IA chief David Zannelli on March 9.

On March 10, the chief ordered IA to begin its investigation.

Just a few days later, the chief said, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, thus delaying the investigation and shifting the department’s attention to the new all-consuming public health crisis.

These three months later, as the city and the country are convulsed by mass protests sparked by a murderous act of police brutality in Minneapolis, Reyes said, ​“This couldn’t come at a worse time. At a time when our community is in pain, and our community is really questioning our values, and questioning the values of the police.”

“This is not what the men and women of this department represent,” he stressed. ​“This is not the value system our department is about. This goes against everything we stand for.”

If upheld, Reyes’ recommendation would end on an ominous note a career that has also had its highlights. Just this past Sunday, Santiago rushed into a burning car to save the life of an armed man who had driven away from police. In January Reyes and other supervisors praised Santiago for defusing a dangerous encounter with a knife-wielding man that could have otherwise ended with shots fired.

The chief said his decision to recommend that Santiago be fired — as well as his 15-day suspension of Hinton for turning on and off his body camera throughout the Dec. 25 incident — represent the kind of accountability he believes the department must hold itself to in order to preserve its credibility with the community at a time of mass protest over police conduct.

“This is a reminder that none of us are above the law,” Reyes said.

The Investigation Begins: Hinton’s Report

The investigative report put together by Det. Jessica Stone and Sgt. Chris Fennessy was the result of three months of reviewing body camera footage, bystander cell phone video, reading through officer incident reports, and interviewing over half a dozen officers and members of the public who were involved in the Dec. 25 incident.

The first piece of evidence the investigators turned to was an incident report that Hinton had filed over two and a half months prior.

That report stated that, on Christmas Day at 7:05 a.m., Hinton was dispatched to 412 Lombard St. ​“for an intoxicated person.”

Hinton wrote that he was met there by two individuals, a man named Luis Rivera and a woman named C, who were standing by a white Dodge Caravan parked on the north-side sidewalk.

That vehicle was owned by another woman, M, who soon thereafter arrived on the scene.

Hinton wrote that he offered Rivera the opportunity to contact a private tow company to get the busted car out of the sidewalk. Rivera declined.

So Hinton contacted dispatch for a tow company to come.

According to Hinton’s report, when the tow truck driver arrived and attempted to move the man’s vehicle, Rivera ​“would not allow the vehicle to be towed.”

Hinton wrote that Rivera was ​“irate” and wouldn’t comply with the officers’ orders.

Hinton’s initial report did not indicate when or who specifically responded to the scene.

He did document that, when Santiago attempted to handcuff Rivera for failing to get out of the way and let his car be towed, Rivera allegedly resisted officers and was ​“taken to the ground and placed into handcuffs.”

Soon afterwards, Hinton wrote, Rivera spit in Santiago’s face and ​“was taken back to the ground.”

The officers subsequently arrested Rivera for assault on a public safety officer, interfering with police, and breach of peace in the second degree.

The two investigators then read Santiago’s supplemental report for the incident.

Santiago wrote that Rivera was asked several times that morning to move from his vehicle.

He then wrote that a struggle ensued once he, Hinton, and Officer Randy Billups tried to handcuff Rivera.

Santiago’s supplemental report indicated that Rivera spit at the officers while in handcuffs, and that Santiago grabbed Rivera by the braids.

“Ofc. Santiago indicated Rivera spat a large amount of saliva onto his face, so he struck Rivera in the face with a closed left fist which was immediately effective and stopped Rivera from spitting any further on officers,” the IA report reads.

“They Punched Him In The Face”

On March 12, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney David Strollo provided Stone with another piece of evidence from the scene: a copy of a cell phone video recording that showed the Dec. 25 arrest.

That bystander video showed Santiago and Officers Leonardo and Billups struggling to handcuff Rivera by the rear passenger side of the van.

According to the investigators’ report, Santiago at one point reached down and lifted Rivera up so that his feet left the ground. Throughout the encounter, Rivera was kicking wildly.

After the officers succeeded in handcuffing Rivera, Santiago stood up, pushed Rivera’s left foot away from him, and then kicked the handcuffed man in the groin.

The camera then panned away to follow Officer Leonardo try to usher C, one of the women on the scene, from the street to the curb. When the camera panned back to Rivera, someone said, ​“Why would you do that?”

Santiago then struck Rivera in the face while the latter was still in handcuffs. Rivera subsequently fell to the ground.

According to the report, M can be heard in the video saying, ​“They punched him in the face” and ​“lift him up by his braids” and ​“they bend his legs too.”

M then asked the person with the cellphone, ​“Are you recording that?” Soon thereafter, the video ends.

“Don’t Grab Me By My Hair”

The fullest documentation of what happened that Christmas morning, according to the investigative report, came from officer-worn body camera footage. After reading through Hinton’s incident report and watching the bystander cell phone video, Stone reviewed Hinton’s body cam video.

There wasn’t just one video, but several. Hinton stopped and started his body camera throughout the incident, but recorded enough for the investigators to piece together what happened. (“I can never really tell when that damn thing is on or not,” Hinton told the investigators during a subsequent interview in an attempt to explain his discontinuous recording of that morning’s arrest.)

The report states that Hinton’s video showed Rivera to be ​“aggressive” as the intoxicated man exited the front passenger side area of the Dodge Caravan.

Hinton repeatedly urged Rivera to ​“come sit down” as Rivera and C argued in the street.

When the tow company driver arrived, Hinton told Rivera to move from the car so that it could be towed. Rivera didn’t move.

“Rivera did not seem to comprehend the vehicle could not remain in the street and needed to be moved,” the investigators wrote.

Officers Santiago, Leonardo, and Billups arrived soon thereafter, the investigators wrote.

Hinton told the three officers that C had been driving the car and hit the curb, which subsequently broke the car’s axle.

Hinton explained to Rivera his options: He could coordinate with a private tow truck company, or the police could tow the vehicle.

Rivera didn’t respond, focusing his attention instead on his continued argument with C.

Santiago then turned to Rivera and stated, ​“I had enough of this guy.” According to the report, Santiago proceeded to try to handcuff Rivera.

“Rivera appeared to pull away from the officers and at one point is in the air horizontally as it appears Rivera is physically resisting the officers as they are trying to handcuff Rivera,” the investigators wrote.

Hinton ​“was holding Rivera’s hair/braids and pushing/holding his head in a downward motion.” The investigators wrote that Hinton could be heard saying several times to Rivera, ​“Put your hands behind your back.”

After Santiago got Rivera to the ground, the officers and Rivera struggled for another minute before Santiago was able to handcuff him.

“As Ofc. Santiago pushed away from Rivera’s left leg, he appeared to kick Rivera between the legs with his right foot while Rivera is laying on the ground on his stomach in handcuffs,” the investigators wrote.

“Rivera can be heard saying, ​‘He kicked me in the nuts.’”

At this point, Rivera was lying stomach down on the ground and handcuffed.

“All that for nothing,” Santiago said, according to the report.

Santiago then reached down, grabbed hold of one of Rivera’s braids, and pulled him up from the ground with it.

When Rivera got to his feet, Santiago let got of the braid, and kept his hand on Rivera’s left shoulder.

“Almost simultaneously, Ofc. Santiago appeared to strike Rivera in the face with his left hand which appeared to cause Rivera to fall to the ground, landing stomach first,” the investigators wrote.

“Once Rivera is lying on the ground, Ofc. Hinton can be heard saying, ​‘Bro, why you spit?’”

Then, pointing his finger into the left side of Rivera’s face, Santiago said, ​“You don’t spit, that’s assault second on a police officer.”

According to the report, Rivera lifted his head and said, ​“I don’t give a fuck, fuck you Nigga … fuck you, you Bitch ass Nigga.” Rivera’s speech was slurred and he appeared to be spitting blood as he spoke, according to the report.

With Santiago out of view, Hinton went over to Rivera and lifted his head from the ground by grabbing one of Rivera’s braids.

“Don’t grab me by my hair,” Rivera said, as Hinton held a fistful of braids in his hand.

Hinton replied, ​“Why not?”

“I ain’t your bitch,” said Rivera.

“That’s how your boyfriend does it, right?” said Hinton. ​“I have to make sure you stay put.”

In addition to watching Hinton’s body camera footage, Stone watched recordings made by Officers Billups, Leonardo, and Santiago.

According to the report, Santiago’s footage showed that, after he struck Rivera in the face, Rivera fell to the ground and hit the right side of his face against the van.

Santiago then requested an ambulance to treat Rivera, and also to treat an injury to his own hand.

“Mother fucker spit on me dude,” Santiago told Billups, as recorded in his body cam footage.

Billups’ body camera footage shows paramedics arriving to the scene and treating Rivera.

“Officer Billups appeared to be holding down Rivera’s right arm with both of his hands and repeatedly tells Rivera to ​‘try and relax.’”

Officer Leonardo placed a medical mask over Rivera’s face and walked him over to the stretcher, according to the report.

“Rivera initially refused to sit on the stretcher and told Ofc. Leonardo ​‘he’s going to fight,’” according to the report. ​“However, Rivera got onto the stretcher without a physical altercation although he continued to yell ​‘bitch ass nigga.’”

The ambulance then took Rivera to St. Raphael’s hospital, where he was treated for a head injury and lacerations to his face, and received X‑rays for his knee, foot, and hand.

Interview With Rivera

On March 19, Stone and Det. Macuirzynski interviewed Rivera at police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.

Rivera explained that his van had broken down on Dec. 25, 2019 on Lombard Street and went off into the other lane of traffic.

He said, after Hinton arrived, the officer tried to resolve the issue by moving the car and issuing Rivera a citation.

Rivera acknowledged he was under the influence of alcohol and uncooperative. He said Hinton gave him an opportunity to contact a private tow service, but it was Christmas morning, and he felt like he didn’t have anyone he could call.

He told the investigators that he was placed in handcuffs ​“two or three times, and they kept putting me in handcuffs, taking me off, putting me in handcuffs.”

Rivera recalled a lot of officers responding to the scene, and that he felt surrounded.

“He felt threatened and explained he was bi-polar and under the influence of alcohol,” the investigators wrote.

After watching the various video recordings of the incident, Rivera admitted he was rude to the officers, ​“but he stated he never lifted his hand towards any of the officers.”

Rivera said he got upset when the officers referred to C, a woman at the scene, as his ​“side piece” and ​“mistress” in front of his wife.

In the ensuing confrontation with officers, Rivera said he was not trying to resist.

“When the detectives discussed the struggle the officers had in handcuffing Rivera, he only claimed he was being yanked by officers every which way, picked up in the air and yanked by his hair,” the investigators wrote.

Rivera said his knee was popped out of place by Santiago.

He also said that he was punched in the face twice over the course of the incident: once as the officers were trying to handcuff him, once after he was already handcuffed.

“Rivera alleged that his left middle finger is still swollen, preventing him from closing his fist completely,” the investigators wrote. ​“His left knee is in constant pain as well as his ankle.”

During the interview, Rivera said he did not know he was kicked in the ​“balls” by Santiago. ​“I didn’t feel it,” he told the investigators. After watching a video of Santiago kicking him, Rivera said, ​“It wasn’t like a real hard kick.”

Rivera also asserted that he never spat on Santiago. Even after watching the video, in which Rivera can be heard saying he has just spit on Santiago, Rivera said he didn’t recall actually spitting.

On May 22, Stone received Rivera’s medical records from St. Raphael’s emergency department. Those indicated that Rivera was ​“clinically intoxicated and uncooperative with the exam.” They indicated that Rivera had marijuana and cocaine in his system at the time he was treated.

The medical record indicated Rivera suffered from left knee pain and left middle finger pain ​“but is ambulatory and otherwise well appearing with mild limp from left knee discomfort.” He was discharged from the hospital at 7:50 that same night.

In a subsequent interview at police headquarters on March 28, M, one of the women on the scene that Christmas morning, told the investigators that ​“Rivera’s finger was injured as a result of the incident which caused him to lose his job as a dish washer and he could barely walk on his foot.”

The investigators later interviewed all of the officers involved, including Hinton and Santiago.

Interview With Hinton

On March 31, Fennessy and Stone interviewed Hinton at 1 Union Ave.

Hinton told the investigators that he had been dispatched to Lombard Street to respond to an intoxicated person complaint. When he arrived, Rivera and C were outside the vehicle on the sidewalk.

Hinton said he was talking with Rivera for a while before he detained him in handcuffs. ​“Ofc. Hinton stated Rivera seemed like he wanted to fight and was irate because Ofc. Hinton stated he was going to tow his vehicle.

According to the investigators’ report, Hinton described Rivera as ​“up and down.” He said he did not want to arrest Rivera, and just wanted to get him home.

“In regards to shutting his body worn camera off while Rivera was still in handcuffs, Ofc. Hinton offered that he was going to cut Rivera loose from the scene so he felt as if the incident was over,” the investigators wrote. ​“Ofc. Hinton explained he reactivated his body worn camera when Rivera and [C] returned back to the scene.”

Hinton told the investigators he was trying to deescalate the situation with Rivera, ​“who looked like he wanted to fight,” by telling him to ​“come sit down.”

As Rivera and C continued to fight, and as Hinton noted that Rivera was likely intoxicated based on his speech and behavior, Hinton called for backup.

Hinton said that Santiago ultimately initiated handcuffing Rivera, ​“who he described as resistant. Ofc. Hinton stated Rivera began to twist his body and would not comply.” Hinton said he could not recall how Rivera was first taken to the ground.

Santiago then pulled Hinton back up, Hinton said, and Rivera twisted his body around in their arms ​“to keep the officers from getting control of his arms or legs. Ofc. Hinton stated he could feel Rivera’s muscles tense as a result of him resisting.”

Hinton said Rivera did not obey orders to put his hands behind his back. He said he did not remember who ended up handcuffing Rivera, but he believed it was Billups.

“Ofc. Hinton stated he did not see/notice Ofc. Santiago bending Rivera’s knee/leg nor did he see Ofc. Santiago kick Rivera between the legs,” the investigators wrote. ​“Ofc. Hinton stated he did not notice Ofc. Santiago pick up Rivera by his braids.” Hinton said when he assisted Rivera to his feet, his intention was to grab the back of his short, not his braids.

Hinton stated he did not see Rivera spit on Santiago or on any other officer. However, he did hear Rivera spit at Santiago.

As for Santiago punching Rivera in the face, Hinton said ​“it happened so fast he was unable to break Rivera’s fall and Rivera struck the ground.”

On the ground, Hinton said he grabbed Rivera by his braids because Rivera was flailing around and Hinton did not want to get spit at. ​“Ofc. Hinton believed by having a hold of Rivera’s braids it allowed him to know where Rivera’s head was going.”

The investigators noted that at various times in the body camera footage, Hinton grabbed the tail end of Rivera’s braid as he lifted his head from the ground. At other times, Hinton has Rivera’s braids wrapped in a fist closer to the head.

“Ofc. Hinton explained he was frustrated with Rivera when he told him ​‘that’s how your boyfriend do it right?’ the investigators wrote. ​“Ofc. Hinton explained his intent in making that statement to Rivera was to ​‘just to have em’ keep contact… keep his attention on me and not the other officers on scene.’”

Hinton said he asked Rivera if he was retarded because ​“he didn’t understand why he took the situation to the current point it was at. Ofc. Hinton confirmed when he asked Rivera if he was retarded it had no bearing on the fact he was Puerto Rican.”

Interview With Santiago

On April 27, Fennessy and Stone called Santiago to 1 Union Ave. to be interviewed about the incident.

Santiago explained that he responded to Lombard Street that day because Hinton had called for backup. He said Hinton, Rivera, and C were on the scene, as was the tow truck driver. He said Hinton told him that he was trying to tow the vehicle and Rivera was not allowing him to do so.

“Ofc. Santiago described Rivera to be belligerent and appeared to be under the influence of some sort of substance based upon his body language and behavior, which he described as angry, irate and confrontational,” the investigators wrote. ​“Ofc. Santiago explained officers were trying to calm the situation down and avoid arresting Rivera because it was Christmas morning.”

Santiago said that, once Officer Leonardo arrived on the scene, the officers tried to remove C from the scene, which caused Rivera to ​“become very irate with his words and said something to the effect of ​‘don’t fucking touch her!’”

Santiago said Rivera pulled his pants up and clenched a fist ​“at which time he believed Rivera was going to attempt to strike him.”

Santiago said the officers gave Rivera ​“ample opportunities to move away from the vehicle.” He said his intent originally was to grab Rivera and move him from the van so it could be towed.

He said that the second he grabbed Rivera, the latter became ​“combative, pulling his arm away and trying to physically strike officers.” Santiago said he interpreted Rivera’s response as violent and as actively resisting, so he decided to handcuff him.

Rivera immediately started to pull away and kick, Santiago said. ​“Ofc. Santiago grabbed Rivera’s lower body and lifted him up to bring him down to the ground to handcuff him.”

Santiago said he tried to use a ​“leg sweep technique,” but Rivera was so ​“squirrelly” the officer could not get him under control.

The officer said Rivera actively resisted, which ​“prolonged him from being handcuffed.” He said Rivera pulled his hands away from officers ​“violently,” which caused Santiago to lose his grip and control of Rivera. And he said Rivera ​“spun his body around in the air in an effort to prevent officers from handcuffing him.”

Santiago said that, in an effort to gain compliance from Rivera, he applied a ​“pain compliance hold to Rivera’s left leg and immediately released the hold upon Rivera being handcuffed.”

During the interview, Stone asked Santiago if he kicked Rivera between the legs. Santiago said he initially did not recall doing that. After watching the body camera footage, however, he said he could see that his right leg ​“did make contact with Rivera’s groin area.

“Ofc. Santiago stated he did not intentionally kick Rivera between the legs while he was handcuffed.”

Stone also asked Santiago about his allegations in his supplemental report that Rivera had been spitting throughout the incident.

Santiago said that, when officers were trying to place Rivera in handcuffs, he was under the impression Rivera was spitting.

The officer acknowledged that hair pulling wasn’t necessarily a technique taught, but he believed ​“it was a reasonable action to take in an effort to control Rivera’s head movement and prevent officers, to include himself, from being spit on by Rivera.”

After he pulled Rivera up, Santiago said, Rivera ​“said something to the effect that he would spit in Ofc. Santiago’s face. Rivera then proceeded to spit directly into Ofc. Santiago’s face.”

The investigators noted that the body camera footage does not show Rivera threatening to spit in Santiago’s face at the time Santiago documented. However, later RIvera does say, ​“I’ll spit in your face again nigga,” according to the report.

“Ofc. Santiago explained hearing the spitting sound then immediately feeling saliva land in his face and into his mouth,” the investigators wrote. ​“Ofc. Santiago said he immediately struck Rivera one time with a closed left fist while Rivera was in handcuffs, which immediately stopped Rivera from spitting further at officers. Ofc. Santiago stated he suffered a laceration to his left hand as a result of striking Rivera and called for medical personnel to treat both himself and Rivera, who was slightly bleeding from his mouth.”

In the supplemental report and use of force form Santiago subsequently filled out about the incident, the officer indicated that he used pain compliance and that he struck Rivera’s face. He did not, however, indicate that he kicked Rivera in the groin ​“as he claimed he wasn’t aware nor did he intend to kick that portion of Rivera’s body.”

During the interview, Stone also asked Santiago to clarify a discrepancy between the Jan. 25, 2020 date and time stamp on his supplemental report, and the date he said he submitted the report, which was Dec. 25, 2019.

Santiago said that, upon arriving back to work after being off inured for a month, he discovered that his supplemental report had not actually been submitted electronically, as he thought it had been.

“Ofc. Santiago stated sometimes reports submitted to the server do not go through as a result of technological glitches,” the report reads. ​“Ofc. Santiago explained he submitted the report instantly once he realized it had not previously been submitted.”

Before the interview ended, Fennessy pressed Santiago on his statement that his kick to Rivera’s groin was unintentional.

“Ofc. Santiago described his legs to be straddling Rivera’s legs when they struggled to place him in handcuffs,” the report reads. ​“During this time his leg came out to step over Rivera and his foot made contact with the center area of Rivera’s groin.

“Ofc. Santiago acknowledged after viewing the body camera footage he would agree that it looks like he kicked Rivera, however he was adamant that he did not intentionally kick Rivera. Ofc. Santiago explained he believed a kick was when ​‘you cock back with force, with intention, you know trying to hurt someone.’ Ofc. Santiago continued ​‘that is not how I deep down feel that it happened or else I would have wrote it in my report like I stated my closed fist, umm I have no reason to hide anything…’”

Punch Allowed; Kick, Hair-Pulling Not So Much

On March 16, Fennessy and Stone interviewed Officer David Acosta, a state-certified use of force instructor who has trained approximately 500 officers during his time as an instructor.

Acosta reviewed the body camera footage, the cell phone video, and all of the officer-filed incident reports pertaining to the investigation.

In regards to Santiago’s kicking of Rivera in the groin, Acosta told the investigators that ​“kicking is a valid tactic taught to officers. However, departmental policy mandates that physical force ends when resistance ceases or the officer has accomplished the purpose of using the force.”

Therefore, Acosta found, Santiago’s kick to Rivera’s groin as he was handcuffed and on the ground and no longer fighting back ​“was not reasonable and was excessive.”

Acosta found that Santiago grabbing Rivera by his hair from the ground to his feet was also excessive. ​“He acknowledged while the technique of hair pulling is taught in the academy, in this instance Rivera is handcuffed and his scope of mobility is extremely limited. Ofc. D. Acosta stated the technique of pulling a handcuffed subject up from the ground by their hair is not reasonable.”

And in regards to Santiago punching Rivera in the face while the latter was handcuffed, Acosta explained that officers can use a reasonable amount of force in order to prevent injury to themselves.

Acosta said the presence of an infectious disease in saliva is possible and ​“spitting would be considered a use of force against the officers by Rivera.”

So, after Santiago was spit on by Rivera, ​“his options to confront Rivera from spitting were limited and therefore Ofc. Santiago’s force (the punch to Rivera’s face) was reasonable and stopped Rivera from spitting further.”

The investigators’ report concludes by noting that Ofc. Hinton was found in violation of General Order 7.10 — Body-Worn Cameras, General Order 400 — Patrol Operations and General Order 1.03 — Rules of Conduct. Per Chief of Police Otoniel Reyes, Ofc. Hinton was given a 15-day suspension on June 10.

“Ofc. Santiago is currently being investigated by the Litchfield County State’s Attorneys Office for potential criminal charges relevant to the excessive force he used against Luis Rivera during this incident.”