Olivia Gross Photo
Officer Salvati leading an NHPD deescalation class this month.
The Civilian Review Board has found that a police officer used excessive force when kicking a man injured in a car crash, a decision that contradicted the conclusion of an NPHD internal investigation.
The CRB voted to recommend that police chief Karl Jacobson discipline Officer Mark Salvati for using excessive force when responding to an October 2019 car crash.
Steven Freytes-Rivera filed a complaint against Salvati and Detective James Marcum on Jan. 24, 2022, alleging that the officer assaulted him and stole his watch, and that the detective tampered with evidence and witness testimony. Internal Affairs investigator Brandon Canning found that none of these complaints had merit.
The CRB agreed with Internal Affairs that the theft and tampering allegations again Freytes-Rivera were not supported by evidence. But the body concluded that the assault complaint was valid.
The police department has not yet released footage from Salvati’s body camera or the full set of materials involved in its internal investigation of the incident in response to a Freedom of Information request from the Independent. But the official findings of the CRB and Internal Affairs establish a common set of facts from the incident.
Both investigative bodies agree that on Oct. 10, 2019, Freytes-Rivera, drove his Cadillac through a red light and crashed into a pickup truck at the intersection of Quinnipiac Avenue and East Grand Avenue. When police, including Salvati, responded to the scene of the crash, they considered Freytes-Rivera a suspect in a nearby shooting that had occurred minutes prior.
The CRB’s report describes Freytes-Rivera as a “seriously injured man who can barely move and is in extreme distress” at the time of the encounter. According to board member Steve Hamm, who described the incident at the CRB meeting, which was held last week on Monday night, Freytes-Rivera had a “broken leg” and “broken ribs” as a result of the crash.
Salvati reported to Internal Affairs that he saw a handgun at Freytes-Rivera’s feet. He said that Freytes-Rivera attempted to conceal the gun, a detail that CRB members disputed after reviewing Salvati’s body camera footage. (Freytes-Rivera told cops at the time that two men had carjacked him and forced him to get involved in the shooting.)
Salvati recounted to police investigators that while on the ground, Freytes-Rivera had lifted a shard of glass in an apparent attempt to stab Salvati.
Some participants in CRB meeting.
At the CRB meeting, board member Jayuan Carter confirmed that he saw this moment play out in the footage. Carter noted that Freytes-Rivera might have intended “not just to harm the officer but to harm himself.”
Both the CRB and Internal Affairs agree that Salvati repeatedly asked Freytes-Rivera to drop the shard of glass. Salvati then kicked Freytes-Rivera in the chest and stepped on his hand to remove the piece of glass.
That kick was at the center of Freytes-Rivera’s excessive force claim.
According to the department’s report, Internal Affairs investigators “determined by a preponderance of the evidence that the alleged act did occur, but the officer engaged in no misconduct because the act was lawful, justified and proper.”
The report asserted that “Officer Salvati was aware of the person shot incident that had occurred minutes before nearby and he did not want to destroy possible evidence, which is why he did not touch the located firearm. These factors combined are a difficult predicament for any one Officer to be in.”
The CRB came to a different conclusion, writing in its finding that Freytes-Rivera “says and does nothing that was threatening” during the encounter with Officer Salvati.
“I would say this officer is lucky that man didn’t die,” said CRB member Steve Hamm. “He kicked a very seriously injured man exactly where he was injured, on the ribs and the chest. … [Freytes-Rivera] could easily have died.”
The CRB recommended that Salvati be “disciplined for excessive use of force.”
Chief Jacobson said Monday that he plans to look more into the incident and the CRB report before making a comment. The police union declined to respond to requests for comment for this article.
Coincidentally, the department this month turned to Salvati to instruct fellow officers in deescalation techniques.
The CRB also recommended that the patrol commander analyze the case to inform policies that could have delivered medical attention to Freytes-Rivera more quickly.
Finally, the board questioned whether Freytes-Rivera should have been questioned by officers at the car crash scene, given the possibility that he had sustained a head injury.
“I don’t think he was in the right state of mind to answer any questions at all, whether it was how many people are in the car, anything, unless there was a medical professional there,” said CRB Chair Anne-Marie Rivera-Berrios.
Manmeet Colon, the lieutenant in charge of NHPD’s Internal Affairs division, responded that officers’ first priority is offering medical attention.
“If someone has a head trauma, are officers advised not to question someone?” asked CRB member Rick Crouse.
“No,” Colon responded. In this case, she elaborated, Freytes-Rivera had claimed that he’d been carjacked and forced to be involved in a nearby shooting by two other people. “We need the descriptions,” Colon said.
“In other cases, I believe they will ask for medical first and then any questions,” Colon added.
“It was clear to me and other members of the committee that the investigation took priority over saving the individual’s life,” Hamm told Colon.
“I am sorry you feel that way,” Colon replied. “That shouldn’t have been the impression.”
Does "We need the descriptions," justify the kind of abuse agreed upon here? I don't think so.
Samuel T. Ross-Lee