I obtained the attached police report and arrest warrant application after someone had questioned why no arrest was made. According to several police sources, the answer is pretty simple. Apparently the Hartford County States Attorney's Office refused to sign the warrant. Why is any one's guess since it seems pretty clear that Hartford Police investigators did a good job of establishing probable cause.
Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts would not comment on the matter, but other police sources did. Apparently there is an increasing level of frustration with warrant applications not being approved. Even from a lay-persons point of view, I encourage you to read the application attached and decide if there is any question in your mind that a crime was committed.
Apparently this case is only one of several recent cases that the Hartford Police investigated and took to the Hartford Court and the States Attorney for prosecution. Among them are another four cases that seem crystal clear.
In one case it involved an investigation of a recent burglary in Hartford. Forensic evidence was gathered at the scene of the burglary, including blood from broken glass in a window at the point of entry. The blood was apparently sent for DNA tracking and a positive "hit" came back identifying a suspect. Apparently HPD applied for an arrest warrant for the suspect based on the rock solid DNA evidence.
Lo and behold....the States Attorney refused to sign the warrant for Burglary but rather said maybe they would go with a criminal mischief charge.
Another case involved allegations of sexual assault lodged against a Hartford politician by at least two young men outlining their allegations in sworn written statements. Hartford Police aggressively investigated the allegations and prepared arrest warrant applications for the suspect. The Hartford County States Attorney's Office refused to sign the warrants. Although I can't get anything in writing showing the reason, one police source stated to me that the explanation they received was unbelievable. They told me that in the opinion of the Hartford States Attorney the victims "weren't forced hard enough" into the sexual acts,and that is a direct quote.
Another high profile incident is the Hector Robles investigation. That sat in the Hartford County States Attorneys Office for action and went nowhere. Finally another copy was hand delivered to the office of Chief States Attorney Kevin Kane, in Rocky Hill. An investigation was immediately opened and is ongoing at this time and may potentially result in Robles arrest.
Another case that resulted in frustration on the part of HPD brass and IAD investigators involved the "non-arrest" of one of their own. The case involved the assault of a civilian in a Hartford bar by an off-duty police officer. Apparently investigators obtained a copy of security camera footage that recorded the entire incident. According to one high ranking police official who had viewed the recording, the off-duty officer "delivered a severe beating" to the civilian and it was clear in the footage.
Hartford Police Internal Affairs investigators applied for an arrest warrant for the off-duty officer's arrest, and yes you guessed it, even with clear video evidence the warrant was denied. I have not seen the video, but several police officials who have told me that it is clear and convincing that the officer was the aggressor and if the roles were reversed, the civilian would have been arrested immediately.
Like I asked earlier, read the report below and see if you think a crime was committed.
DPW Tool Theft
For the past 20 years the Hartford Police and the Court have had a strong working relationship. But for some reason, over the past few years that relationship has really deteriorated.
ReplyDeleteIt is a fact that the Chief of police and the person in charge on Lafayette St. don’t exactly see eye to eye. Now who is to blame for the bad relationship? -The well educated professionals who have been working with Police forever, as well as other police departments and never had any problems; or the politically appointed low ranking Lieutenant to Chief with a community college online degree who has a reputation for fostering horrible working relationships and is currently getting sued 6 ways from Sunday. You tell me. Success is never final.
Relationships need to be maintained and fostered. That takes humility, intelligence and compromise.
The chief won’t be here forever, but when he leaves, the new chief will have to repair this relationship ASAP.
Kevin, the Robles case was brought to GA14 and the PD asked the court what to do. So GA14 took it to the Chief States Attorney for investigation. The court handled it perfectly.
- Soon to be Retired
Ms Hardy has been the states attorney for Hartford a few years and appears to be "skating" thru her job.She appears to want to move up the legal and political ladder and only takes the cases that are an absolute slam dunk.In the meantime the residents of Hartford cannot rest easier under her leadership in the cheif states attorneys office knowing that because of her hesitency alot more criminals are out on the streets of Hartford.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, 11:16am:
ReplyDeleteFirst, I don't need to comment here to defend the Chief or anyone else. Some of your points are valid, others I disagree with. The relationship between the Chief and the Hartford County States Attorney is less than what it should be. The root cause is anyone's guess but it is the type of thing that adults usually agree to put personalities aside and focus on the end goal.
It makes no sense to me to tie up detectives and police resources for nothing in the end. The end result is that criminals are being left on the street to victimize people in Hartford again, whether it be a sexual predator or a burglar or a cop without limits.
There are a few "relationships" at Jennings Road that should be addressed by adults, rather than they are being handled by people that seem to still be caught in a junior high school mentality when it comes to settling differences.
As far as the degree, who cares? To me it is more about common sense and being able to identify good people to surround yourself with, not back stabbers who work to undermine the organization rather put differences aside and build it. There are a few individuals there, past and present, who may have a wall full of degrees but no clue when it comes to common sense.
As far as Robles, I will disagree with your version of the handling of that. I don't need to lay it out here, but the version I posted was confirmed by both HPD and Rocky Hill. Which ever version you choose to believe, the end result is the same, it is being investigated by Inspectors from Rocky Hill and is moving forward.
And just for the sake or argument, did you read the arrest warrant application posted here and do you agree or disagree that a crime was committed? Is there something I missed in reading the facts and if you were the investigator on that case, would you have applied for a warrant or not? Not trying to be argumentative, but I'd like your perspective
Kevin - What's the update on the situation with Chief Roberts and his alleged arrest? (domestic violence)Haven't seen anything in print since a blurb a while ago.
ReplyDeleteWhile not the anonymous at 11:16 Kevin. I am a police officer who read this warrant. Yes, probable cause, which is the minimum standard to make an arrest, is clearly present.
ReplyDeleteI think even someone with no idea what probable cause is could read that application and realize that the claim that a crime had been committed was a reasonable conclusion. Why it didn't go anywhere is anyone's guess, but thanks for your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAs far as anything involving the Chief as the "anonymous" previous poster asked. A couple of thoughts on that, 1. it was from an anonymous person, if there was anything solid, I'm sure they would have made that clear. 2. I spoke with the Chief within a day or 2 of the incident and he gave me his version and I have never been lied to by the Chief to the best of my knowledge 3. There are plenty of full time media people that follow this blog closely and if there was anything to a "domestic violence" claim, I'm sure one of them would love to break the story, which obviously hasn't happened 4. The Law enforcement circle is a very tight one, rest assured if someone had credible information about Hartford's Chief, it would have spread like wildfire.