Top Cop Retires, Heads To Trial

Rahgue Tennant successfully ran out the clock to retirement before potentially losing his job for allegedly assaulting his wife and holding his family hostage — and he is now trying to beat the rap altogether.

The former top Dixwell cop is set to go to trial in January — one month after he officially submitted his retirement papers, and 16 months after he was first arrested and put on paid administrative leave.

In a groundfloor court room at 121 Elm St. on Friday afternoon, state Superior Court Judge Melanie Cradle gave now-retired Lt. Rahgue Tennant a trial date of Jan. 8.

Tennant won’t appear before Cradle for that trial, however.

After a year and three months’ worth of pre-trial hearings and continuance after continuance after continuance after continuance at 121 Elm St., Tennant’s case has been transferred to the state courthouse at 235 Church St. State Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford will preside over the trial.

Tennant was first arrested on Sept. 6, 2018, when police deployed the SWAT team to his East Shore home to investigate allegations that he had abused and intimidated his wife, held his kids hostage, and threatened to shoot up the house.

State prosecutors have charged the former top Dixwell cop with six charges of domestic violence, including one felony count of second-degree assault, one felony count of first-degree unlawful restraint, one misdemeanor count of second-degree threatening, and three felony counts of risk of injury to a minor.

Since his arrest, the former top Dixwell cop has inched closer and closer to hitting the 20-year mark on the force, a threshold that would qualify him for a significantly larger pension then he would otherwise receive if he resigned before reaching two decades.

Over the many months, Tennant and his defense attorney Norm Pattis consistently asked the judge for, and received, continuances, whether because of scheduling conflicts or time needed to discuss state plea deal offers.

The city Department of Human Resources’ regular weekly list of municipal personnel changes indicates that Tennant recently put in his papers for retirement, with the effective retirement date of Dec. 10.

While Tennant would not have reached 20 years of sworn service with the New Haven Police Department until Jan. 25, police officers hired before 2012 are eligible per the police union contract to ​“buy back,” or exchange, up to five years of sick time to count towards their pension eligibility. The contract counts 30 days of sick time as equivalent to one year’s worth of pension-eligible service.

The city’s spokesperson did not respond to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted Friday morning regarding how much Tennant’s annual pension will be, if it is approved by the Policemen & Firemen’s Retirement Fund Board. As of August, Tennant had already been paid nearly $80,000 for his then-11 months on paid administrative leave.

The police department has provided the incident report from the Sept. 6 arrest (reprinted below) as well as Tennant’s personnel file in response to FOIA requests from the Independent. However, it has not pursued any disciplinary measures against the former top cop; top brass claim they need for Tennant’s criminal case to resolve before the department can act on any internal disciplinary review.

“As of this date, an IA investigation into the incident/criminal arrest of Lt. Tennant has not been ordered open,” Lt. David Zannelli of the police force’s Internal Affairs Division told the Independent by email on Nov. 26. ​“Therefore, there are no reports to provide you with at this time.”

Plea Deal Rejected

In court on Friday, Tennant confirmed for the judge the decision that he made in court in November — that he will not be taking the plea deal offered by the state that would have him plead guilty to two misdemeanors and likely receive a completely suspended prison sentence in exchange for successfully completing a counselling program.

Assistant State’s Attorney Laura DeLeo pointed out that that plea deal also included a provision that would have required Tennant to no longer be a police officer, and either ​“be terminated or choose to terminate his employment.”

That condition is now moot, Pattis replied, because Tennant has retired, effective Dec. 10.

By turning down the plea deal, Cradle told Tennant, he now faces a maximum prison term of 41 years if convicted on all charges at trial.

“That is obviously significantly more than the exposure you would face with this two-year cap,” she said about the maximum two years of incarceration that would be suspended upon completion of counselling.

Is that really what you want to do? she asked.

“Yes, your honor,” Tennant replied.

Running Out The Clock Is All Too Common

Tennant’s apparent strategy of ​“running out the clock” and prolonging the pre-trial stage of his case for so many months is, according to one state criminal justice expert, a common practice for those with enough time and money to stall matters in the state court system.

Mike Lawlor — former co-chair of the state legislature’s Judiciary Committee, state’s former undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning and an associate professor who teaches about criminal justice at the University of New Haven — declined to comment on the specifics of Tennant’s case. But he did say that court cases at 121 Elm St., also known as the ​“lower court,” almost never go to trial.

The state tends to assign more serious cases to Part A, he said, where trials are often held (and where Tennant’s case, as of Friday, is now heading). But that’s only about 2 or 3 percent of all cases.

“There’s almost no actual trials taking place in the lower court,” Lawlor said. ​“Almost everything is resolved without a trial. Either the charges are dropped, or you get some sort of diversionary program, or you plead guilty.”

“It is easy for a case to languish in the court for one and a half to two years,” he said, if a defendant is not interested or willing to take a plea deal. ​“If you don’t mind going to court every few weeks, this could go on indefinitely.”

Obviously, he said, that schedule is not an easy one to bear for most people who need to go to work every weekday, who can’t find reliable childcare every few weeks, who can’t afford bail in the first place to receive a conditional release. Therefore many plead guilty, or press on their counsel to strike a deal with the state.

“If you had the resources to not care about how quickly your case could be disposed, you could literally run out the clock,” he said. Look at how long it took Rabbi Daniel Greer to go to trial, he said, and that was a particularly serious set of allegations.

This dearth of trials at the lower court hasn’t always been the case, Lawlor said. He said he started out as a prosecutor several decades ago at 121 Elm St., and that he frequently brought cases to trial there.

“It’s not like there are more cases now,” he said. In fact, over the past 10 years, the sheer number of criminal cases in the state court system is down 30 percent.

But even with that drop in arrests and charges filed, he said, the sheer number of cases on any given day’s docket at the lower court is just as long as it was a decade ago.

“Cases are just languishing longer and longer and longer and longer.”

This is in part just a scheduling problem, he said. If a case gets assigned to a judge, that judge has to be the one to set the trial date. But because the court system moves judges and prosecutors around so frequently to meet wherever the demand is on any given day, finding the right date to have the original judge and prosecutor and defendant all in the same room at the same time can be challenging.

This sheer inertia also leads to prosecutors being out of practice at trials, he said, and therefore disinclined to bring a case to one. And because pre-trial motions are marked off until the time of trial, police officers almost never have to testify or be cross-examined, which sometimes leads to officers getting sloppy in writing police reports.

“All of this is not a good thing,” he said.

The way to solve all this? Have more trials, he said.

“People have to want there to be more trials. Judges would have to be assigned to do more trials.”

Because now, he said, ​“continuances are routinely granted with or without an explanation.”

The Alleged Crime

Sgt. Shayna L.Kendall wrote an investigative report into the Tennant matter. The text of the report, including redactions (in brackets), follows:

On September 6, 2019 at approximately 1759 hours, I received a notification call-out for the Hostage Negotiation Team to stage at 830 Woodward Avenue (Distrcit 9 Substation). The information provided was that New Haven Police Lt. Rahgue Tennant barricaded himself in his residence at [ ] after not allowing his wife, [ ] and their three children to leave. Further information revealed that [ ] was able to escape with her children to a neighborhood residence.

Upon arrival to 830 Woodward Avenue, I was met by Command Staff as well as Emergency Services Personnel to discuss the details of the incident. ESU and partnering agencies reconvened to the area surrounding [ ] in an attempt to make contact with a despondent Lt. Rahgue Tennant. Shortly after communication was established, [ ] and her children were relocated to 830 Woodward Avenue where Detective C. Carr and I spoke with her about the events that led up to this incident.

[ ] presented with a discolored and swollen right eye and red marks on her chest and neck area [ ] was crying and in great concern for her well-being and the safety of that of her children and her mother. [ ] indicated that she has been in a relationship with Rahgue since 2004 and they became married in 2009.

[ ] stated that her movement had been restricted by Rahgue since Thursday, August 30, 2018. [ ] stated it was this date that Rahgue had become upset with her and threw a Lysol bottle at her head which caused a large hematoma. [ ] stated Rahgue invited Police Commissioner Greg Smith to their home and had dinner prepared in the oven. [ ] stated Rahgue became upset because the home required cleaning because they were expecting a guest. [ ] indicated that she could not understand if Rahgue became upset about the uncleanliness of the home or that there had been a fly in the home but he had subsequently left.

[ ] stated Rahgue had increased his alcoholic intake and would consume alcohol heavily especially when he would go out. [ ] stated it was no surprise to her that when Rahgue returned to the home, he was irritated. [ ] stated she had been in the bedroom putting the children to bed when Rahgue turned on the lights and began to argue about not having food prepared for him. Raghue stated, ​“You didn’t make no fucking diner?” [ ] stated she initially told Rahgue that the food was in the oven, however, realized he was agitated and had been out drinking which provoked her to get up to prepare the food for him.

[ ] stated Rahgue told her ​“from now on when you have something to throw in the trash, you walk your lazy ass outside and throw it in the trash.” [ ] advised Rahgue that they would have to come up with a different solution which [ ] believed Rahgue interpreted as her being disrespectful. Meanwhile [ ] stated she was carrying the dinner plate when Rahgue threw the Lysol can at her head striking her head and face [ ] stated the impact almost instantly created a large hematoma on her head.

[ ] stated she believed Rahgue knew he hurt her, however, perhaps not as bad as he did. [ ] stated Rahgue told her to put ice on her face to avoid the children seeing her face. [ ] stated Rahgue instructed her to go seek treatment at the hospital and to ​“tell them everything” but warned ​“you’ll lose everything.” [ ] became fearful and interpreted this comment as Rahgue may ​“kill” and cause harm to their children. [ ] therefore was unable to seek adequate medical treatment and was told to heal herself by Rahgue. [ ] stated she did not sleep that night and the hematoma began to drain which caused her discolored eye and right side of her face.

[ ] advised that the following day, Rahgue went to Walmart to purchase makeup to conceal her bruising as well as a variety of treatment interventions. [ ] stated at one point Rahgue yelled at her for possibly laying on her injury which made the swelling and appearance of the injury worse. [ ] stated Rahgue would not allow her to leave the home as someone may see and inquire about her head and face. [ ] added Rahgue maintained possession of the family vehicles as well. [ ] stated this was the only instance of physical abuse she endured from Thursday August 30, 2018 until police arrived on September 6, 2018.

[ ] stated in the following days succeeding this incident, Rahgue pulled out several of his weapons and began to clean them in her their bedroom. [ ] stated Rahgue had never done this and while doing so told her that if ​“anyone comes in the house will get lit up.” [ ] knew this to mean Rahgue would shoot them and feared for her safety as well. With a combination of his words and the cleaning of his weapons in her presence, [ ] feared this was a reality.

[ ] stated she believed threats Rahgue made to be true due to historical abuse where Rahgue has told her that if she threatened the loss of anything he had worked hard for, she would not live to enjoy it. [ ] stated Rahgue had become increasingly aggressive with the more power he obtained within the police department and he had purchased new equipment including magazines and ammunition for his weapons.

[ ] stated she had been planning to seek permanent refuge away from Rahgue due to the ongoing physical violence which also included financial abuse, verbal and emotional abuse. [ ] stated Rahgue does not allow her to work to maintain dominance and control over he. [ ] stated over the past few days she has been contacting Umbrella Center to obtain services and was looking to relocate. It was on September 6, 2018 that Umbrella was notified about physical abuse to [ ] and Rahgue’s children and subsequently notified Department of Children and Families.

[ ] stated she was familiar was familiar with the mandated reporting system and knew that Umbrella would report the incident which is what sparked her need to seek immediate refuge. [ ] stated DCF responded to her home on September 6, 2018. [ ] stated she tried to minimize her communication with them and was given a contact card by the DCF worker.

[ ] stated Rahgue arrived and asked why DCF was at his home. [ ] stated they have surveillance within their home as well as notifications Rahgue receives when someone comes to the home. [ ] stated Rahgue demanded to know and became extremely paranoid. [ ] stated Rahgue was peering through the blinds and was able to speak to someone. [ ] stated she could not hear exactly what he was saying, however, Rahgue told her ​“now Tony and Herb calling me.” Rahgue was referring to Assistant Chief Otonial Reyes as well as Patrol Commander Lt. Herbert Sharp. [ ] stated Rahgue initially refused to answer and told her to ​“tell em I’m in the shower.” [ ] stated she then received a call [ ] which Rahgue stated ​“I don’t answer the phone so Tony gets his wife to all you.”

[ ] stated she answered the phone and attempted to convey that everything was going fine, however, she soon realized that Assistant Chief Reyes was on the phone. [ ] stated she was asked if she was alright and she responded affirmatively and quickly told him she would call him back.

[ ] stated as she heard the shower running, she knew this was her only opportunity to flee the home with her children. [ ] stated she frantically ran to [ ] and entered the unlocked home of [a witness].

[ ] continue to provide historical abuse information which she had never reported to the police. [ ] had to be redirected several times as it appeared as though when speaking of one instance of abuse, it triggered an instance of another familiar time. [ ] stated her children has been present during abusive altercations including this incident and has shown signs of being affected by it. [ ] was advised that her children would be interviewed forensically with her consent as well as obtain services from Yale Child Study.

I subsequently met with Lauigina Allen of DCF Milford. Allen advised me that she received a referral on September 6, 2018 at 1850 hours. The minimum information provided on the referral was that [ ] advised of a fear of physical violence and was fearful of retaliation. Allen stated she and another DCF worker attempted to make contact with [ ] first at 278 Peck Street, however, was unsuccessful. Allen stated they then went to [ ] and did not initially get an answer at the door. Allen stated as they were walking away, [ ] opened the door and Allen asked if her husband (Rahgue) was home. [ ] told Allen he was not, however, decided it was not a good time to speak with Allen.

Allen stated she received a call from Rahgue inquiring as to why she had come to his home. Allen stated Rahuge was initially apprehensive and suspicious asking if Allen was truly a representative of DCF. Allen stated the Program Manager Tricia Falcone then spoke with Rahgue to advise and confirm Allen was from DCF. Allen stated Raghue was informed of their DCF protocol and that an investigation would need to be completed to include a welfare check of the children. Rahgue was adamant that no one was coming to his home and the New Haven Police Department was contacted. Allen stated she spoke with Sgt. C Fennessey who told her that he would coordinate personnel to accompany them on the necessary welfare check. Allen stated before that could be accomplished, the incident turned into a hostage incident.

After speaking with Allen, Detective Carr and I went to 20 York Street CIU in an effort to make contact with Rahgue Tennant. Upon initial contact, Rahgue indicated that he did not feel well and was suffering from a headache.

Following contact with Rahgue, we met with [a witness]. [The witness] stated that she was home with her elderly mother and son when [ ] entered her unlocked home in a panic. [The witness] stated [ ] had her children with her and all [ ] was saying was to ​“Call 9 – 1‑1.” [The witness] stated at this point she did not know what happened and assumed someone was chasing [ ]. [The witness] stated [ ] locked the door to her home and then started to lock doors and windows inside of her home in apparent fear.

[The witness] stated she heard [ ] talking on the phone and gathered what occurred. It should be noted, [the witness] was initially apprehensive in speaking to Detective Carr and I and stated she was fearful of retaliation if information was provided to Rahgue that she aided [ ] as well as spoke to the police.