Asst. Chief's Accident Sparks Lawsuit Threat

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Asst. Chief’s Accident Sparks Lawsuit Threat

by Paul Bass | Jan 27, 2011 8:42 am

(27) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Legal Writes

“Mortified” by officials’ handling of an internal investigation, the family of a man struck by a car driven by Assistant Chief Ariel Melendez has notified the city it plans to sue.

The notification came in a letter to the city from Paul Levin, a lawyer representing the family of Samuel Lewin.

Lewin, who’s 21 and lives in Old Saybrook, was crossing South Orange Street near the police station and near the Church Street South housing projects on Nov. 22 at 5:34 p.m. Right then, Melendez was leaving work. He pulled onto South Orange in his department car. Then he hit Lewin.

Lewin ended up in the hospital with a fractured jaw. Police promptly reported that it appeared the pedestrian, not the assistant chief, had been at fault, for allegedly darting out into the road. The department’s accident investigation team then went to work to reconstruct the accident—and decided Melendez wasn’t at fault, an assessment officials made the day of the accident.

Meanwhile, Lewin’s mother tried to obtain copies of reports from the police. They’ve been unsuccessful to date. In the process, she encountered what she and her lawyer called an improper runaround. Furthermore, the attorney questioned why the police were investigating themselves in the first place—and why cops were investigating one of their superior officers—rather than calling in the state police.

“Why would you lose the confidence of the public and the families involved by having your own people investigate something they should stay away from with a ten-foot pole?” Levin remarked in an interview Wednesday.

Melendez, who has been at the center of two other unrelated probes of alleged police misconduct, announced earlier this month that he’s retiring after 33 years on the force. He will receive a $124,500 annual pension.

Given Melendez’s problems, “there looks like there might be a tendency to protect the beleaguered officer,” attorney Levin added.

He stressed that he and the family are not questioning the conduct of officers who carried out the department’s investigation. Rather they question the decision not to have the state cops handle it. (“We never participated. We were never asked,” said state police Lt. Paul Vance.)

“We don’t call the state police in on every incident that involves a department traffic accident,” Chief Frank Limon responded Wednesday. “We have a traffic reconstruction team come in and conduct an investigation.”

Police Wednesday released copies of the police reports and accident investigation report. Read them here and here.

1 Union Ave. Visit

Attorney Levin’s notice to the city doesn’t mean the family will definitely file suit. It means the family is considering filing suit.

In addition to the lawsuit notification letter, attorney Levin sent Chief Limon a letter decrying allegedly the department’s “mortif[ying]” “behavior.” The letter described a visit to department headquarters by Pam Kruh, victim Lewin’s mother. Someone from the department had told her over the phone that she could come pick up a copy of the accident report, according to the letter. At the station she was told she couldn’t get the report, the letter continued. Instead the mother was ushered into the office of Capt. Leo Bombalicki, who, the lawyer claimed, “interrogated” the mother about what her son was doing at Church Street South. Lewin has had run-ins with police on the shoreline.

“The circumstances that led to Mrs. Kruh’s presence in the Captain’s office appear to be a pretense,” Levin’s letter charges. Read the letter here.

“We’ll review it and respond in due course,” city Corporation Counsel Victor Bolden said Wednesday about the letter and the notification to sue.

Kruh elaborated on her visit to the police station in a note emailed to the Independent. (The family did not wish to be interviewed for this story.) “I went to the front desk and asked for records,” she wrote. “The woman behind the desk said that this was records and asked for the case number. I gave it to her, she punched it up on the computer and then she got on the phone. She spoke with someone and hung up. She came over to the glass and said that I would have to contact the Connecticut State Police for it. She stated that they were involved because there was an officer involved. I explained that records had told me Tuesday that it was complete. She proceeded to write down two numbers, one was the CT State Police… and the other was Capt. Bombalicki ... She said the Captain was in and he may be able to help.

“She asked me if I would like to call him. I thought he might be able to help me with the report, so I said yes. He came down and brought me to his office. I asked him if I could get the copy of the report from the Connecticut State Police. He asked me why they would have it? He went on to say New Haven investigated it. I told him the woman at the desk said they were involved and gave me their number. I showed him the paper she wrote the number on, he took it, looked at it and said they were not involved at all, she made a mistake. ... He proceeded to tell me that the accident report, although not completed, found that Sam had exited his vehicle and was running across the street. He said Sam ran into the windshield of the the police car. I told him I didn’t think Sam would do that, and that Sam said he had his hand on the car door when he was hit. He said he had an accident team look at it and that’s what they found happened. I asked why would he run into traffic? Capt. Bombalicki responded ‘I don’t know, was he high?’ I said no. He then said what was he doing in New Haven? I said I didn’t know but it shouldn’t matter. He asked how old Sam was and I said 21. He said he was a man and should come in and speak with them. I thanked him for his time and got up to leave. As we were walking out he tried to show me the route that the deputy Chief took when he hit Sam. He was pointing out the front of the building at a street. I listened but at this point did not pay much attention as he upset me with his questions.”

Bombalicki said this week that there was no ruse involved. He couldn’t give the report to Kruh because the report hadn’t been completed yet. He said that because of Kruh’s concern he contacted the head of the accident reconstruction team, Sgt. David Guliuzza, and asked him to complete the investigation as soon as possible.

Church St. South Visit

After the Nov. 22 accident, Lewin underwent facial surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital. In addition to his fractured jaw, he has “lingering medical issues that are not clear at this point,” his lawyer said. “I don’t think he’s done with his medical care at this point.”

Police Officer Jonathan Young “briefly” interviewed Lewin at the hospital after the accident, according to a report he filed.

Lewin reported that he had just left a “house party” on Nov. 22 when he drove to South Orange Street and parked there, Young wrote. Lewin said a friend had asked him for a ride to Sadavi Mini Market, a store located inside the Church Street South housing complex.

“After approximately ten minutes Mr. Lewin felt [the friend] was taking too long, so he exited his car, and walked toward Sadavi’s to try to find him,” Young wrote. “Mr. Lewin was not sure exactly what route he took as he walked toward the market. He said he was in ‘the middle of the road’ when he struck by the car.”

“Under the victim’s own account, he acknowledged being in the middle of the roadway when he was struck,” the accident reconstruction team concluded in its report. It found Lewin to have violated Section 53-182 of the state general statutes, regarding pedestrian use of highways.

Police also interviewed Asst. Chief Melendez after the accident.

“Melendez stated he was traveling south on South Orange St. and was making the turn onto Columbus Ave., when all of a sudden, something struck his windshield,” according to a report of the interview. “Melendez stated that he immediately stopped his vehicle, at first believing someone had thrown a brick at it, however upon exiting, he observed Lewin lying in the roadway. Melendez called for medical personnel ... Melendez stated that he never observed Lewin walking in the roadway.”

Investigators found no skid marks on the street to determine the direction Melendez was driving in. The nearby Board of Ed parking garage on Meadow Street has cameras facing the street, but the camera angles proved “inconclusive.” Police found no witnesses to the collision “other than an oncoming vehicles from Union Ave.”

They did speak with Glenn Worthy, a driver who was about to turn onto South Orange from Columbus Avenue at the time of the accident. Worthy told police he “observed Lewin stumbling in the middle of the roadway and fall to the ground. Worthy stated that prior to that he did not observe anyone walking in the roadway.

Two months after the accident, Lewin’s family and lawyer have yet to see any of that evidence. They intend to.

Comments

posted by: streever on January 27, 2011 9:04am

This makes me ashamed to live in New Haven.

The police force must be completely reorganized and rebuilt from the ground up. The union that protected the “rowdy rookie”? Out. The union leadership has demonstrated it has no concern for the citizens of New Haven.

Internal affairs and anyone who declared the Asst Chief innocent before looking into the accident? The people who have never given the report to the Lewis family? Out. You, much like the Asst Chief, have demonstrated a callous lack of concern regarding the constitution and the rights of citizens.

It is a shame that we have an ineffectual Mayor who is more concerned with image than transparency.

I know some great cops. I have no idea how they manage to retain their sanity and good judgement despite working in a department that is so clearly corrupt and non functional.

posted by: Realism on January 27, 2011 9:25am

Be realistic.

Your mother told you when you were a kid… look both ways before you cross the street.

Contrary to popular belief, pedestrians do NOT have the right of way at all times, that’s why the city paints crosswalks on the street, so that people can cross safely from side to side without jumping out between parked cars.

Say what you want about NHPD, but they called out the accident reconstruction squad and internal affairs, that’s more than they would do for the typical careless pedestrian, this “victim” got his fair shake.

posted by: to: streever on January 27, 2011 9:53am

The “ground up”??? Your argument is with the top tier of the department including the mayor. I’m saying there needs to be a serious “top down” change. There is a lot of good working, and trustworthy officers in the department. Hopefully this city can find/hire/elect some real leaders, because there isn’t any here now.

posted by: HewNaven?? on January 27, 2011 9:54am

I sometimes forget how great it is to have real journalism in New Haven. Thank you, Paul, Thomas, et al. for all that you do.

With this story, you could have simply repeated elements of the police report as the New Haven Register has done:

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/01/27/blotter/doc4d40a76b31e2a129030550.txt

Instead, you choose to delve into this story in an attempt to uncover the truth, interviewing the victim and a potential witness, and bringing to light certain procedural errors.

Just wanted to say thanks for real journalism!

posted by: New Havener on January 27, 2011 10:26am

So glad every misstep the NHPD takes is getting press coverage lately… It’s about time. I think Limon is just the guy they need to start cleaning this mess of a department up. It’s truly a blight on what could be a great city.

posted by: Potential Juror on January 27, 2011 11:57am

Union Avenue is 4 lanes wide there and hard to cross. I think the kid just stopped in the middle when there were to many cars to go right across. Its obvious to me Melendez wasn’t looking where he was going. What a cover up. Get me in court as a juror and its NOT GUILTY for all for evermore. I have no faith in law enforcement. ...

posted by: robn on January 27, 2011 1:41pm

Neither Chief Melendez’s recent questionable behavior regarding the 1st amendment (taking cameras from bystanders at crime scenes) nor Samuel Lewins pending larceny and burglary charges are relevant. Samuel j-walked and got hit by a car. His fault.

posted by: DKR on January 27, 2011 1:46pm

a “house party”,.. hmmmm,..did he tell the police the location of the party and the name of the “friend” to interview him and or any other “house guests” to determine what his condition was or wasn’t. did the police conduct a search warrant for his blood to determine his b.a.c?? only he “sam lewin” knows what he was doing and what he did. as much as the public may see this as a cover-up,..let’s get ALL the facts before making that assessment.

posted by: JLAW on January 27, 2011 3:39pm

Cars belong on the street, people do not. The guy got hit by a car because he was where he should not have been. No cover up, accept the fact that he walked into the street and was wrong.

posted by: streever on January 27, 2011 4:36pm

Realism:
You missed the part of the article where they stated:
a. The police determined the pedestrian was at fault PRE investigation
b. The police have refused to give their report on the accident out

Comment “To Streever”:
Sorry, but the rank and file cops who I saw beat an innocent girl on the side of the street—the rank and file cop who choked me for “questioning” him—and the few cops who post here slandering suspects are certainly not upper management, the desk people at IA who blocked me from filing a complaint? The rowdy rookie who threatened bar employees? They need to go. My point is there are a lot of bad apples—more every day.

I know a lot of incredible cops at various levels of the department, and I’m sure they’d agree—off the record—that the department needs a serious cleaning, head to toe, and anyone who can’t respect civil rights needs to be removed.

JLAW: Unfortunately, our police have the same limited understanding of traffic laws as you profess.

DKR: You are one of the bad seeds in the NHPD if you honestly think it is OK to do what you do. You know that the law works with a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and yet you back the department in a case where they decided the pedestrian was at fault PRE investigation?

posted by: Rodney Munch on January 27, 2011 5:03pm

I think Chief Melendez should file a lawsuit against Lewin’s family. Misuse of the highway by pedestrians is a infraction of the law. The undue stress on the chief may have led to his retirement. Leave it to this bastion of journalism to make a big stink over a non-issue.

posted by: Nick on January 27, 2011 5:07pm

People who say he was jay-walking or shouldn’t have been on the street are completely missing the point.

The point is that it is ridiculous to have a chief investigated by his subordinates. If they know what is best for them, they can only come to one conclusion.

The state police should have been asked, and there should be a policy of asking them in such situations. Limon’s response - “We don’t call the state police in on every incident that involves a department traffic accident” - is both worrying and inadequate. The state police have to come. And if there are really so many department traffic accidents that it would be a burden on the state police, the cops should learn to drive.

posted by: William Kurtz on January 27, 2011 5:44pm

Nick is right. This is one of those cases where the aftermath is the problem. The thin blue line is thick enough that any investigation by a police authority into the possibility of misconduct by a police officer—let alone an assistant chief—has the likelihood of being called into question. No reasonable person can expect that subordinates can responsibly investigate a superior officer, even if in this case they did.

posted by: robn on January 27, 2011 5:50pm

Whats an accident “investigation”? Every time I’ve ever seen an accident, the cops come, observe and make an assessment right on the spot about who is at fault. The NHPD shouldn’t pull moms chain about providing the report, but I don’t see any problem with the procedure, unless theres been an assault or murder.

posted by: Paul Martin on January 27, 2011 5:52pm

The union will say he deserves a medal for not fleeing the scene.

Is there any conduct that NHPD officers won’t defend as long as it’s one of their own?

Cut their pensions. We’re getting ripped off.

posted by: DKR on January 27, 2011 11:18pm

streever..

like you, i am entitled to my opinion. regardless if it was a cop who was involved in this incident or not,....the concerns i raise are valid and are part of the “totality of circumstances.” define bad seed?? you can “judge” me all you want,..i speak the truth,..don’t hide behind a screen name,...am not a “yes” man,.nor do i play the political game that has “destroyed” this department.

posted by: R. Drill on January 27, 2011 11:59pm

Why would New Haven have to call the state for a non fatal accident? It is a cut and dry investigation. The question is why Lewin was at this location in the first place? Maybe to purchase a narcotic or controlled substance? Oh my, the liberal democrats who have ruined New Haven will not have such talk. Instead they will focus on a 33 year veteran of the PD in lieu of giving support. Others choose to cry about the police pension and union because they themselves are either incapable or incompetent to get on a police department. There was no crying over fire/police pensions on 9/11.

posted by: anon on January 28, 2011 4:00am

They went above and beyond normal procedure. If a normal citizen was driving then the accident reconstruction team wouldn’t have been called in. Too many police haters. Its appalling how some many people say the police are corrupt. Some work their butts off so hard and get no appreciation. Maybe the police should say every citizen is a criminal. Unreal if you don’t use the cross walk Hello your at fault by law not by the police judgement. Many people know a kid from Old Saybrook is not going to Sadavi’s to buy milk.. They go to buy drugs by the person standing outside! SHOCKER!!! ...

posted by: CARL MCGILL on January 28, 2011 4:16am

I have known Ariel Melendez and his family since 1969. In those many years of friendship, he is one of the most honest, humble, sincere, and integrity grounded individuals I ever known. Those who hate cops will attack one without knowledge of character of the individual, but with animosity towards the profession. With Ariel Melendez’s resignation, New Haven residents lost a great and dedicated public servant.

posted by: Nick on January 28, 2011 11:01am

@ R. Drill and anon - I hope you’re not involved in law enforcement. Why Lewin was there is completely irrelevant. This is a simple traffic accident. It seems that you think, just because someone has a criminal record, he doesn’t have rights.

Whether it’s fatal or non-fatal has nothing to do with it either. The police department has to be clean and has to be seen to be clean. Right now, it’s neither. So the state police need to come in. Having an accident reconstruction run by Melendez’s subordinates is just a stupid waste of taxpayers’ money.

posted by: To Nick on January 28, 2011 1:42pm

So using your logic the state must investigate New Haven. But who will investigate the State Police? Lets call in the FBI. What if the FBI is involved in a accident? Call the State department. There is no logic in your thinking. The state has enough problems enforcing the speed limit than to waste time on a M/V accident which a eighth grader could figure out.
R. Drill is on the mark. You assume the Officer is guilty and poor Mr. Lewin is not getting a fair shake. Liberal democratic thinking at work ruining the city.

posted by: streever on January 28, 2011 2:14pm

Robn, I may be naive to believe them, but I have been told that an accident reconstruction team is usually engaged & creates a comprehensive report as to what has happened.

If that isn’t true, I think we can all see that it needs to happen in cases like this, when an Assistant Chief is involved in a crash with a pedestrian, and officers decide he is innocent before any work has been done at all.

posted by: streever on January 28, 2011 4:27pm

Carl:
I’m sure he is a great guy, but being a great guy doesn’t mean he can get away with falsely arresting someone, deleting that someone’s photos, and then earning the same pension he would get if he had been Chief of Police.

I think he deserves to retire and get a fair pension. I don’t think he deserves to be rewarded for bad behavior.

posted by: Gene Debs on January 28, 2011 11:34pm

Streever: Why on earth would you blame the police union for any of this mess? No assistant chief is a union member, nor is the chief. Police officers investigate motor vehicle accidents that happen within New Haven. The chief of police, were he a certified police officer, could have opted to handle the investigation thus eliminating any conflicts of investigating one’s superior. The union certainly was never consulted about any of this, and I am a little surprised you jumped on the hate-all-unions bandwagon. If you are unhappy with the NHPD’s leadership, blame the chief. Don’t blame the brother and sisterhood of police officers banded together to ensure the protection of workers’ rights.

posted by: citysavior on January 29, 2011 2:54pm

...The pension issue is done the asst. chief’s contract has eliminated that jump and the city can negotiate out of the police contract for the next contract coming up.We have good police officers in this city stop throwing them under the bus all the time!!!

posted by: Anon on January 29, 2011 4:37pm

Re NHI, NHR, Advoc.

None of these papers has yet published, have they?, the speed Judge Walker was driving when he accidentally hit the police officer, who died. That’s years now, and his honor has yet to have to read that in the paper.

The speed someone is driving when someone gets killed is usually pretty standard information, isn’t it?

We have yet to read about the Yale cop who injured a woman’s windpipe this past summer, sending her to the hospital.

And still no one in the press will look at the stack of documentation of the fed’s denial of access to videotapes of a NHPD officer fabricating the heck out of an arrest report of a journalist in downtown new haven, a journalist who had been harassed for months, not to mention talk to the numerous witnesses to it.

The list goes on. Readers forget there is a press crisis and that just 20 years ago, you’d been reading twice what you are now, and in more depth.

And too, the press is a fickle lot that isn’t always accountable either.

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posted by: Nick on January 29, 2011 6:20pm

@ “to Nick”: I’ve no idea why you say “an eighth-grader could work it out,” since you don’t know anything about the accident other than what you’ve read above. (Unless you’re a police officer, in which case you should say so.) The situation is: there’s been an accident, and each side says that the other side is at fault. So it should be investigated neutrally. That’s common sense. And, for that matter, the law and the Constitution.

I’m not taking the side of Lewin; I just don’t think that the police department should be judge and jury in its own case.

Your point about who should investigate the State police if they’re suspected of doing something wrong is a good one. Yes, it should be (and is) the FBI. As for who investigates them? There are plenty of private tort actions against the FBI, adjudicated by the judiciary. There’s a neutral method of arbitrating every dispute involving law enforcement officers.

In terms of “liberal democratic thinking ruining the city” - this is pretty funny. I’ll add “police department follows the rule of law” to my definitions of “ruined.”

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