[CT] OFFICER VELEZ, ARRESTED 6 TIMES FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ON LEAVE FOR THREATENING TO KILL GIRLFRIEND ALLEGATION

...The restraining orders, which name [Velez's girlfriend's] young sons

and Velez's elderly mother

as protected persons, will remain in effect until Sept. 30, when a hearing on the matter is scheduled in Superior Court in Norwich... He has been arrested six times for domestic violence incidents, most recently in 2004 when his estranged wife alleged he had beaten and sexually assaulted her and threatened to shoot her with his police-issued pistol. The case was dismissed and Velez, who had been suspended from duty, was reinstated with back pay. He divorced the woman while the case was pending...

Previous post:
[CT] Gun-to-Wife's-Head-&-Arrested-6-Times-for-DV-Officer Velez Wins BACKPAY - ...How could the department fail to follow up after Milford police alleged that the officer threatened to kill his ex-wife with his department-issued firearm? More to the point, how could Police Chief Bruce Rinehart have said that there was an internal investigation? The public now learns... that no such investigation was done... "The charges were dropped in all of the cases because the witnesses were afraid to testify"... Velez's personnel records show that he has been the target of eight internal police probes, four supervisor complaints and 15 civilian complaints concerning his behavior with women, his police work and his dealings with the public. He has also had six restraining orders filed against him by four women...

VELEZ TAKEN OFF THE STREET AFTER WOMAN OBTAINS RESTRAINING ORDER
The Day
By Karen Florin
Published on 9/23/2009
Velez taken off the street after woman obtains restraining order New London patrolman Genaro Velez, who has been arrested six times for domestic violence but never convicted of a crime, has been removed from his patrol duties after a woman he was dating obtained a restraining order against him. Thirty-nine-year-old [M.P.], a bank teller who has been dating Velez since January 2008, received a temporary restraining order against Velez in New London Superior Court on Monday. Three days earlier, she went to the police department to complain that Velez had threatened to kill her. City police are investigating the threatening report and have removed Velez from patrol duties, since the restraining order forbids him from possessing a gun. “As per the union contract, he has been reassigned to a position inside the police department that does not require a weapon,” said police spokesman Capt. William D. Dittman. [M.P.] claims that Velez became abusive a few months after they started dating, constantly shows up unexpectedly at her workplace and elsewhere and has threatened to kill her if she left him. “Genero Velez would tell me to keep my phone on me at all times, even in the shower, because he wants to know everything I do and every move I make,” [M.P.] wrote in the application for a restraining order. Velez, 53, of Oakdale, also applied for and received a temporary restraining order against [M.P.], whom he says twice punctured the tires on his car, stole his spare police badge and threatened to shoot him after he broke up with her. In his restraining order application, filed a day after [M.P.] received her order, he wrote that he had complained to state and local police about the tire slashing and theft from his home on East Lake Road. “[M.P.] cannot accept I do not want to be with her,” Velez wrote. “She acts like someone in a fatal attraction because when I was with her I couldn't look at any other female and could not wear my sunglasses because she had to see ... whatever I was looking at.” Montville Police Lt. Leonard Bunnell said Velez did report his badge stolen and his tires slashed and named “someone he knows” as a suspect. Bunnell said there is an active investigation. “There is insufficient evidence to indicate it was her as he suspects,” Bunnell said. He said there is a history of domestic disturbances “with previous relationships” at Velez's residence. The restraining orders, which name [M.P.]'s young sons and Velez's elderly mother as protected persons, will remain in effect until Sept. 30, when a hearing on the matter is scheduled in Superior Court in Norwich. “We'll re-evaluate after the 30th,” Capt. Dittman said. Dittman said that because the court issues temporary restraining orders based only on the statements of the applicants, the city and police union have an agreement to remove the police officer to inside duty until both sides have had an opportunity to explain themselves before a judge. Velez has been a city police officer since 1982. He has been arrested six times for domestic violence incidents, most recently in 2004 when his estranged wife alleged he had beaten and sexually assaulted her and threatened to shoot her with his police-issued pistol. The case was dismissed and Velez, who had been suspended from duty, was reinstated with back pay. He divorced the woman while the case was pending. Velez and [M.P.] could not be reached for comment. [LINK]


Headings from another group I had before I started doing this blog:

Jul 19, 2005
[CT] Still a cop, Velez arrested 6 times for dv, 8 probes, & more
A city patrolman who has been arrested six times on domestic-abuse charges rejoined the police department this month when he was reinstated following a 17-month suspension.

Jul 19, 2005
[CT] 2002 article about Velez's (then) five dv arrests (ETC)
...All five of the charges were eventually dropped, and Velez has never been disciplined or tried for the crimes... The New London Police Department continues to deny any wrongdoing in the investigations and claims that each situation was handled appropriately...

Jul 19, 2005
[CT] Coverage of Velez's 6th arrest in 2004 - Wife Luz "very scared"
..."The charges were dropped in all of the cases because the witnesses were afraid to testify"... Sitting before a bank of television cameras speaking about her husband, Luz Velez said, "I'm scared, very scared."... He allegedly strangled her, compressing two of her vertebrae, the affidavit shows, and threatened to "empty his gun clip" by shooting all the bullets into her head and murdering her family members. Luz Velez alleges that her husband kept her locked in their home until she was able to break out Jan. 10 and escape to her sister's... "He views her as a piece of property and she fears for her life," said Luz Velez's attorney..

Dec 3, 2005
[CT] No internal probe on Officer Velez - arrested 6 times for DV
...A letter from the police union's lawyer March 1 requested the internal investigation number and the date when it commenced. On May 17, Estep responded: “It would appear that after the assignment of this matter to the Deputy Chief that an Internal Affairs number was not created and no investigation has occurred.”...

July 29 2006
[CT] 6x-arrested-STILL-a-cop-gun-to-wife's-head Officer Velez update
[From 2 July 2006 articles] ...The New London Police Department will be required to provide The Day with most of the documents pertaining to the department's internal investigation of an officer accused of threatening to shoot his wife... Despite the police department's insistence that an investigation into Velez' alleged actions had occurred immediately after his 2004 arrest, a letter obtained by The Day and written more than a year after the arrest by Brian Estep, the city's attorney, stated that "no investigation occurred."... The New London Police Department has 15 days left to decide whether it will appeal a ruling by the state Freedom of Information Commission to turn over to The Day documents created during an internal investigation of a police officer...

Oct 8, 2006
[CT] 6x-arrested-STILL-a-cop-gun-to-wife's-head Velez not investigation
...A police department file appears to support Officer Genaro Velez Jr.'s claim last December that the department never conducted an internal investigation of charges that he threatened to kill his wife with his department-issued firearm... Velez's personnel records show that he has been the target of eight internal police probes, four supervisor complaints and 15 civilian complaints concerning his behavior with women, his police work and his dealings with the public. He has also had six restraining orders filed against him by four women. The charges in five of his previous arrests have been either dropped or dismissed...

Oct 12, 2006
[CT] Editorial: How could dept not investigate Ofc. Velez threat to kill wife?
...How could the department fail to follow up after Milford police alleged that the officer threatened to kill his ex-wife with his department-issued firearm? More to the point, how could Police Chief Bruce Rinehart have said that there was an internal investigation? The public now learns... that no such investigation was done... It is mind-boggling conduct by the New London Police Department leadership, especially when the matter involves a police officer who has been arrested six times on domestic-abuse charges and was the subject of several restraining orders...

Oct 12, 2006
[CT] If I had blinked I would have missed this on Officer Velez
...A single police car overturned on Green Street... Officer Genaro Velez Jr. was treated at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital and released... (I want to comment but where would I start?)

Oct 17, 2006
[CT] 6-DV-arrests-&-gun-to-wife's-head Ofc. Velez WINS BACKPAY
...The state Board of Mediation and Arbitration ruled that Genaro Velez Jr., a 24-year veteran of the department, should receive 101/2 months of back pay and credited leave time for the 17 months he was suspended on charges that he threatened to kill his wife... The board ruled that the court's June 2005 dismissal of charges against Velez was the equivalent of a not-guilty verdict under past practice and the city personnel policy... The board did not award back pay for the six months Velez was under a civil restraining order, but did award pay and benefits for the period when he was under a criminal protective order...

Nov 1, 2006
[CT] Probe request for 6x arrested for dv/still-employed Officer Valez
A city councilor has requested a third-party investigation into the way the city police department handled the suspension of Officer Genaro Velez Jr., who was arrested six times on domestic violence charges and most recently charged with threatening to kill his wife...

Nov 17, 2006
[CT] City resists BACKpaying 6x-arrested -for-dv Officer Velez
The city is disputing a state labor board decision that awarded back pay to a city police officer for the time he was suspended on charges that he'd threatened to kill his wife... arrested six times on domestic violence charges, all of which have been dropped or dismissed, was awarded 101/2 months of back pay last month for the 17 months he was suspended... “Regardless, I'm going to get the money. Regardless, I'm going to get it. And when Santa Claus comes, he's going to be handing out the big packages,” Velez said...

Jan 24, 2007
[CT] 6-DV-arrests-Ofc. Velez flips ANOTHER cruiser/ Chief minimizes
This may be the most shameful case that I am aware of where the officer is still employed and no one is dead YET. MAYBE. There's a couple that come to mind - but VELEZ IS WAY UP THERE.

Sep 1, 2007
[CT] Officer Velez's ex wife very scared (I wonder where she is)
...I'm scared is about all Luz Velez felt comfortable saying in English.

[police officer involved domestic violence law enforcement lethal terroristic threats repeat hx connecticut]