nothin “So Why Did U Really Hit Me?” | New Haven Independent

So Why Did U
Really Hit Me?”

Paul Bass File Photo

Monzon (pictured): I’m innocent.

While on duty and in full uniform, Officer Juan Monzon showed up at his girlfriend’s house. They got into a fight over child support payments, and he allegedly unholstered his service handgun and pointed it at her.

There are a lot of unsolved homicides in New Haven. I would shoot you with this gun, but they count the bullets,” Monzon (pictured) told her, according to an arrest warrant affidavit on file in Superior Court.

Monzon, a 14-year veteran of the New Haven police department, turned himself in at police headquarters Tuesday and was arrested on charges of risk of injury to a minor, assault in the third degree and threatening in the first degree. He has surrendered his gun and has been placed on administrative duty, according to police spokesman Officer Dave Hartman.

He made an appearance in Superior Court Wednesday. His case was continued.

Contacted after he appeared in court Wednesday morning, Monzon told the Independent, I’m pleading not guilty. I’m going to leave it to the court to decide who’s guilty and who’s not. I know I’m not guilty.” He said he plans to hire a lawyer. He said he wants to withhold further comment for now.

The department has placed him on administrative duty pending the outcome of his case.

The arrest warrant affidavit, written by Detective Wilfredo Cruz, details the investigation that led up to the arrest. Here’s what happened, according to Cruz:

On Friday, a woman called the Internal Affairs department and said she wanted to file an assault complaint against Officer Monzon. She told Cruz that Monzon, who’s married to another woman, is the father of her 2‑year-old daughter. They met and exchanged numbers on Sept. 17, 2008, when he responded to her apartment on a burglary complaint.

The girlfriend provided a taped statement recounting allegations of abuse at Monzon’s hands. She told police that on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 23, she confronted Monzon about paying child support for their daughter. She threatened to tell his wife about their relationship. Monzon allegedly pulled his gun and issued his threat. He told he that he has four to five guns at home that are registered to him. The woman stated that she assumed Officer Monzon implied that he would shoot her with one of his other personal guns,” Cruz writes.

Later on Wednesday, at 11 p.m., Monzon returned to the apartment and the couple fell into arguing again. It got physical. Cruz writes: “[The woman] showed me a bruise mark to her right forearm where Officer Monzon pinned her down on the bed with his knees. He also struck [the woman] on her chest with a closed fist while she was holding their crying daughter. [The woman] said the argument was over child support money, his not being a part of their daughter’s life, his lying to her and him not taking care of the paternity acknowledgement application.”

The woman told Cruz that Monzon hit her in the eye during an argument in 2010, causing swelling. She talked about an incident on October 26, 2012, in which she and Office Monzon argued at her residence over child support and his seeing other women. [The woman] informed him that she was going to confront his wife and tell her all about their relationship. During the argument, Officer Monzon picked [the woman] up and body-slammed her onto the couch in the living room.”

The woman told Cruz that she and Monzon had had about 10 physical confrontations” at her apartment since August 2010, about half of which occurred while he was on duty.

The woman showed Cruz text messages she had saved on her cell phone. In a message from Nov. 20, 2012, the woman wrote So why did u really hit me?” Officer Monzon replied, Because you didn’t let me leave.”

Contacted by Cruz, Monzon declined to give a statement, according to the affidavit.

Sign up for our morning newsletter

Don't want to miss a single Independent article? Sign up for our daily email newsletter! Click here for more info.


Post a Comment

Commenting has closed for this entry

Comments

Avatar for Greg-Morehead

Avatar for MrHinkyDink

Avatar for BranfordResident_2

Avatar for NHPDHartman

Avatar for NHPDHartman