nothin Helliger Cleared | New Haven Independent

Helliger Cleared

New Haven’s police chief has decided against disciplining a lieutenant accused of violating department policies in a confrontation with a shopper in a Walmart parking lot.

An internal affairs investigation had concluded that Lt. Patricia Helliger (pictured) was in the wrong during the confrontation one Friday afternoon two months ago. She had asked a man to move a cart out of a parking space she wanted to use in the lot outside the Route 80 Walmart. An argument ensued; at one point she knocked a cell phone out of his hand as he was recording her, and at another point Helliger was struck by the man’s sister. (The man claimed Helliger had shoved the sister, too, which Helliger denied.)

The internal affairs investigation reportedly concluded that Helliger had displayed conduct unbecoming a police officer” and violated a department order protecting the rights of citizens to record the actions of police officers. (Click here to read the latter order.)

The chief overruled it.

Helliger, supported by both her union and several city alders, argued that she was the victim in the case and had acted properly. (Scroll down to an earlier version of this story for more details.)

Union President Lou Cavaliere Jr. accompanied her Tuesday afternoon to a meeting with Chief Dean Esserman and Assistant Chiefs Al Vazquez and Anthony Campbell. Esserman said later that he had decided against disciplining Helliger in the case. He declined further comment.

He stood by his lieutenant” and her version of the event, Cavaliere said later. We were happy.” He said the chief was receptive to the argument that because accounts differed in the incident, and because a store surveillance video of the incident was not clear,” the case should be chalked up as a misunderstanding.”

Helliger could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. Cavaliere said that Helliger felt the man’s sister should have been arrested for hitting her, but that overall she was kind of happy with the outcome.”

An earlier version of this story follows:

Paul Bass Photo

The president of the police union has advice for a lieutenant facing discipline from the police chief Tuesday: Apologize and say you had a bad day.”

The top cop, Lt. Patricia Helliger (pictured), has a meeting scheduled with Chief Dean Esserman Tuesday afternoon as a result of an internal investigation into an incident that occurred a couple of months ago in the Walmart parking lot on Route 80.

To the police union president, Louis Cavaliere Jr., it was the kind of incident that recently got the chief himself into hot water.

Helliger, who ran the department’s records division at the time, was on her way home on a Friday afternoon. She stopped at Walmart to return an item. As she pulled into a parking space, she noticed a cart in the way. A man was unloading groceries from the cart into a parked car. Helliger asked the man to move the cart; he told her to wait.

An argument ensued — an argument the two sides later described differently. Here’s what happened, according to numerous people familiar with the case.

The argument began after Helliger parked in the space. She walked toward the store, then turned back to return to her car. (Why she turned back in dispute.) The man was low to the ground taking photos of her license plate with a cellphone camera.

The man turned around to face Helliger. Helliger slapped the phone out of his hand onto the ground.

The man’s sister then got out of the parked car. According to the police union, the woman then struck Helliger. The man claimed that both Helliger and the woman shoved each other.

In either case, Helliger got in her car and called for police to come. They did. They did not make any arrests. They did launch an internal investigation. The investigation was launched because Helliger had allegedly identified herself as a police officer at the beginning of the argument. At the time she ran the department’s records division. (She now is stationed at the police academy.)

According to Helliger and her supporters, she acted calmly; they said she had swatted the phone because the man allegedly shoved it within inches of her face.

After interviewing participants and reviewing a parking lot video, investigators concluded that Helliger was at fault, and that she also shouldn’t have been using her department car off hours.

Now it’s up to Chief Esserman to decide whether, and how, to discipline Helliger.

Police Union President Cavaliere defended Helliger. He faulted the man and his sister for shouting obscenities at Helliger and allegedly striking and injuring her.

They’re making this out to be the Kennedy assassination,” Cavaliere said. The amount of time and effort that went into this investigation, I just shake my head. It seems like they’re going a little bit above and beyond to discipline her. I don’t feel it fits. There was a little misunderstanding in the parking lot.”

Was she using the [department] car properly? I’m not 100 percent,” Cavaliere said, adding that he has seen chiefs” using department cars for private business.

In advising Helliger, he said, he referenced an episode involving Chief Esserman allegedly harassing a Yale Bowl usher for refusing him free admittance to the Yale-Army football game. Cavaliere noted that Esserman apologized for acting improperly while having a bad day.” He said Helliger should do the same.

Maybe they were both having a bad day,’” Cavaliere said of Helliger and the man in the Walmart lot. I’m hoping that an apology will be enough.”

Assistant Chief Al Vazquez, who oversees internal affairs, said Monday that he could not comment on the case, because it remained open. Helliger said the same Monday.

She did say that she feels the department has treated her unfairly and that in 19 years on the job, she has never had a disciplinary problem. She has helped organize toy drives for kids and food drives for needy families in the community, as well as a program bringing cops born abroad into public-school classrooms.

I’m in total shock,” Helliger said. I’ve never had any [accusations] of aggression. … It’s shameful that my department treats me this way.”

Newhallville Alder Brenda Foskey-Cyrus recently pressed Helliger’s case in a meeting with two other alders and Mayor Toni Harp.

Foskey-Cyrus said she believes the man and the sister in the parking lot were at fault: We should never put our hands on an officer. I have seen the bruise on her body. Any time you come up against an officer, you can be arrested.”

Newhallville Alder Delphine Clyburn, meanwhile, said she believes Helliger acted properly. She’s the type of woman who keeps her behavior in check,” Clyburn said. I support her because she’s a woman of character and she respects the community.”

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