[CT] Recently arrested for DV assault, Trooper Arroyo escaped being charged for same in 2004

TROOPER FACING DOMESTIC CHARGES AVOIDED ASSAULT CHARGE IN 2004, INVESTIGATION FOUND

The Hartford Courant

By Hilda Muñoz

July 12, 2011|

[Excerpts] State Trooper Henry Arroyo, who was arrested in a domestic assault in New Britain in June, was involved in a domestic incident with the same woman in 2004 that was improperly investigated, a report states. Arroyo was not arrested or disciplined after the 2004 incident, during which he grabbed at his wife Maritza O'Neill's hair and pulled out an earring as she drove, she told police. The New York State Police reviewed 19 cases — including Arroyo's — in 2006, in a highly publicized investigation of the Connecticut department's internal affairs division. The investigation found, among other things, that internal affairs officers failed to address misconduct of some troopers. The 2004 incident involving Arroyo and O'Neill stood out as an example of such an improper investigation.... Arroyo, who was a passenger in a vehicle driven by O'Neill... Their two children and a friend of one of their children were also in the vehicle. As the couple fought, O'Neill attempted to pull over when she saw a state police car in the breakdown lane... and she crashed into the state police car... [Trooper Stanley] Domijan, after exiting his police car, said he overheard Arroyo tell O'Neill that he could lose his job if she talked. Arroyo interrupted O'Neill multiple times as she was being interviewed by state police about the domestic assault... Arroyo's intimidation of the victim was not documented in a sergeant's report, although it was detailed in a supplemental report ... A video recording of the highway crash, which also captured Arroyo's conversation in Spanish with O'Neill, disappeared from the back of Domijan's police car. Arroyo denied taking the tape, but he admitted to passing through an unsecured garage where the car had been stored two days after the accident... Arroyo refused to provide a statement in the criminal investigation... Connecticut state police reopened the case in 2007 and determined that Arroyo should have been charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct, but the statute of limitations had expired by then, according to the Connecticut investigation. Other possible charges included tampering with a witness, intimidation of a witness and risk of injury to a minor, the investigation found. State police Lt. J. Paul Vance confirmed that Arroyo was not disciplined in connection with the 2004 domestic incident, even after the New York State Police issued their report... Arroyo and O'Neill were arrested June 25 after fighting at their home in New Britain. Both were charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct... [Full article here] [police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence ipv abuse law enforcement public safety preferential treatment hx repeat teflon connecticut state politics]