NHPD Body cam
Officer Christian Carfora pointing 2 weapons at Robert Banks.
A 50-year-old man who stole underwear from Walmart found himself staring at a taser and a gun held by a single police officer and then feeling the officer’s knee on his back.
That incident took place last Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Route 80 Walmart, as onlookers gathered.
The police department immediately began a review of the incident — not because the officer necessarily did anything wrong, but because all displays of force undergo a three-part review, said Police Chief Renee Dominguez.
The officer, Christian Carfora, has not been placed on leave. The chief said the review began before the Independent began inquiring about the incident last week.
The shoplifter arrested in the incident, Robert Banks, told the Independent he didn’t understand why the officer confronted him in that way.
Banks admitted he had shoplifted underwear and socks from the store. He also admitted he was under the influence of drugs he had begun taking after a friend died.
“I’ll be honest with you. I was a little out of it, and I stole some stuff,” he said in an interview. “To be honest, I am ashamed.”
But he also questioned why the officer ordered him to the ground, placed his knee on his back, and confronted him with both weapons. “I thought it was a little aggressive.”
Officer Carfora explained his reasons in a police report. The police Tuesday released both the report and body cam video of the incident. (Watch the video above.)
Carfora wrote in the report that he was working an extra-duty shift at the 315 Foxon Blvd. Walmart when he and store workers saw Banks take clothes from a rack and stuff them in his pants. Banks left the store. Carfora followed.
Banks started running. Carfora ran after him, yelling at him to stop.
“I’m sorry,” Banks called back, as he kept running to a parked blue Volvo station wagon.
He reached the car, got into the front seat. Carfora pulled out his taser, grabbed the keys.
“Get out of the car!” Carfora could be heard ordering on the video.
“It was only a T‑shirt! I was stealing T‑shirts!” Banks could be heard responding.
“What do you got there bro?” Carfora asked him.
“I only got T‑shirts!”
“The male began to reach inside his pants,” Carfora wrote in his report. “[A]t that moment, I deployed my department issued firearm fearing the male was grabbing a weapon. I placed my Taser back in the holster and again ordered the male out of the vehicle and onto the ground.
Other cops had arrived as back-up.
NHPD Body cam
“Down on the ground! Down on the fucking ground!” Carfora can be heard ordering on the video. “Get your hands out of your fucking pockets. Get your hands on the ground! Turn over! Turn over!”
The video did not show Banks resisting. “I’m sorry sorry sorry,” he told Carfora. “I only stole shirts. I’m sorry sir! I’m sorry! It hurts!”
NHPD Body cam
“Once the male was prone on the ground, I holstered my department issued firearm, placed my knee on the back of the male and began to handcuff said male,” Carfora subsequently wrote in the report.
As Carfora handcuffed Banks, an unseen radio in the background blared a report on immigration, with former President Donald Trump speaking about how “they come over with cartels … through gangs.”
“I fucked up. I fucked up,” Banks told officers after he was handcuffed.
“You can’t start reaching your hands in your pocket like that. That’s why I pulled a gun on you. You started reaching in your pockets,” Carfora told Banks.
Officers brought Banks to a squad car and prepared to bring him to 1 Union Ave. He asked if he could be released on a summons. Another officer Paul Vitale, told him if he had “just stopped in” the store, he could have been released with a summons. “Because of the actions you took” by fleeing, Vitale said, “you have to be processed … It’s going to take a few hours out of your life, but that’s a consequence of your actions.”
Banks said he spent a few hours in detention before being released on $2,500 bond. Police charged him with sixth-degree larceny and interfering with a police officer. He also had an outstanding warrant. According to the state judicial database, Yale police arrested him last October on charges of larceny, trespassing, and marijuana possession charges.
The stolen goods had a total pre-tax value of $104.38, Carfora reported.
No gun or other weapon was found on Banks or in his vehicle.
Speaking with the Independent Monday, Banks said Carfora treated him respectfully once the encounter was over.
He said he hadn’t realized it was a police officer chasing him in the parking lot.
He repeatedly questioned why Carfora assumed he was reaching for a gun and felt a need to point a taser, then a gun, at him, and put his knee on his back.
“I got in my car. He was right there,” he said.
“I was putting my key in the ignition. … He thought I had a gun. Why would he think I had a gun if I’m shoplifting at Walmart? …
“I don’t understand why he thought I had a gun. Why do we assume a person has a gun? Because I’m Black?”
Paul Bass Photo
Acting Chief Renee Dominguez: “Doing our due diligence.”
In cases like these involving a display of force, the police department routinely launches a three-pronged review involving internal affairs, the patrol division, and the training division, Chief Dominguez said in an interview. That’s what immediately happened in this case, she said.
She said that given that the officer involved has no previous history of misconduct, there was not a need to place him on administrative leave. “If this was a repeat issue, this would be something else. We’re doing our due diligence.”
“It was appropriately documented. [We are] doing our normal checks and balances to make sure we’re checking on everything to identify any issues if there are any,” Dominguez said.
The chief was asked whether there have been any other recent incidents involving New Haven police officers simultaneously pulling a taser and a gun. She said there have not.
Word of the incident began spreading through the community over the weekend. It came up Monday during remarks by ministers holding a press conference at a Newhallville church about issues in New Haven policing. “Do you pull a gun on an individual for shoplifting?” asked one of the ministers, the Rev. Boise Kimber.
Other recent incidents involving off-duty officers and problematic patrons at the Route 80 Walmart have also sparked community conversation. Click here and here to read about two of them.
Police Commissioner Michael Lawlor said he needs to see more details before offering an opinion about whether the officer acted appropriately.
“As is the case in the George Floyd situation and similar situations, you always have to start with what is the underlying crime that police are responding to,” said Lawlor, a former prosecutor and ex-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s top criminal-justice aide. “If it’s a violent crime, that’s one situation. Obviously shoplifting is pretty low on the totem pole. That would be a factor here.” But other factors, including whether the officer had a reasonable basis for believing a noncompliant suspect might be armed, also come into play, he said.
Nothing to see here folks. Investigation over, the suspect is clearly not showing his hands and consistently reaching in multiple pockets. Notice the officer pulled his taser first because the suspect was trying to start his vehicle when being ordered to get out of the car and get on the ground, indication of less lethal force. Once the suspect started reaching in multiple pockets the officer was well in his rights to pull his department issued weapon. This was not about whether it was shop lifting or murder, it was the officer doing what he was hired and requested to do and that is stop a crime in progress regardless of the crime. Great Job Officer Cafora. That was the way to handle that situation. Fill out a use of force for and go home to your family, you have my support