Thomas MacMillan File Photo
(Updated) New Haven’s beleaguered assistant chief, Ariel Melendez, hit a pedestrian and sent him to the hospital upon leaving work Monday night, according to police.
Melendez (at left in above photo) was leaving the police station at 5:34 p.m. on his way home when the departmental car he was driving hit the pedestrian, 21-year-old Samuel Lewin of Old Saybrook, who had just exited his vehicle.
The victim went to the hospital with head injuries. He was treated and later released. Melendez was unhurt.
The accident took place right by the Church Street South housing projects, where South Orange Street meets Columbus.
The accident reconstruction team is investigating the incident. Initial indications point to the pedestrian, not the assistant chief, being at fault, said a person familiar with the investigation. “He darted across the street and got hit.”
Melendez has been the subject of controversy lately. A recent Independent article revealed that he personally ordered a citizen arrested, in contradiction of department policy, for videorecording the police during an entertainment district incident on Sept. 25. The man was jailed; cops seized his camera and erased the video. The incident is allegedlly under investigation.
Melendez also personally ordered and oversaw a controversial Oct. 2 SWAT raid of a private Yale party at Club Elevate; the incident also included allegations of denial of citizens’ rights to use cell phones and cameras. Critics, including the mayor, called the decision to send in SWAT an overreaction. That incident, too, is allegedly under internal police investigation.
I hope the pedestrian recovers completely, and that we don't lose sight of the two serious incidents this asst chief was just involved in.
A lot of community members are watching--and waiting--and already frustrated that the department hasn't come out against his arresting a private citizen for no reason.
It will be a disgrace to all the hard-working and honest officers if this investigation peters out or goes nowhere.