Hartford Man Charged After Confrontations With Officers: Police

HARTFORD, CT — A Hartford man is in custody and facing a slew of charges after a two-day series of incidents where the suspect was charged with threatening to kill a state police officer, among other transgressions, police said.

The bizarre set of events — which included obscenity-laced rants, the brandishing of a knife, a vehicular police chase and a scuffle with officers — prompted state police Tuesday and Wednesday to charge Hartford resident Raymond Lapinski, 29, with two sets of serious charges, police said.

For an incident on Monday, Lapinski was charged with: second-degree threatening; first-degree reckless endangerment; reckless driving; and disobeying the signal of an officer

For those charges, police said Lapinski was held on $100,000 bond and was to be arraigned in Hartford Superior Court Wednesday.

It is regarding an incident Tuesday where the suspect is facing the most serious charges while police apprehended him.

After a scuffle with police as he was apprehended in connection with the Monday incident, Lapinski was charged with: Assault of a public safety officer (two counts); criminal attempt to commit first-degree assault; interfering with an officer; and carrying a dangerous weapon.

For those charges, Lapinski was being held on $1 million bond and is in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Corrections pending his arraignment Wednesday in court.

Incident details

According to a state police release Wednesday afternoon, Lapinski's arrest comes after a two-days of interactions with law enforcers in which police were threatened and assaulted by the suspect.

It all began at about 10:30 a.m. Monday, police said, when an on-duty Connecticut State Police sergeant, working in plain clothes, was entering a vehicle with his badge displayed on Asylum Street in Hartford.

That's when a white male with long hair driving a Honda Civic, later identified as Lapinski, began to shout at the sergeant, asking him if he was a "cop," police said.

According to police, the sergeant confirmed his status as a police officer and the suspect, reportedly, said he "kills cops."

"Using profane language, the unidentified white male went on to threaten to kill the sergeant specifically," wrote Connecticut State Police in a report.

When the officer approached the Civic, the driver sped off traveling west on Asylum Street, police said.

The sergeant got the Civic's license plate number and relayed information to the Troop H barracks in Hartford.

The sergeant was able to catch up with the Civic down Asylum Street, when the suspect reportedly leaned out the vehicle's window, displayed an "obscene hand gesture" and yelled profanities at the officer, according to the report.

Eventually, the Civic got away and the sergeant went back to Troop H to investigate the suspect.

Later Monday, the sergeant saw the same silver Civic on Pulaski Circle in Hartford and, using the lights and siren, attempted to stop the driver.

But the Civic entered the Whitehead Highway toward Interstate 91 at a high rate of speed, in excess of 100 miles per hour, and was traveling in a "reckless and erratic" manner, police said.

This prompted police to terminate the pursuit due to safety protocols and the investigation continued into the next day.

After an arrest warrant was finalized, it was learned Lapinski was also wanted by other departments for various crimes, police said.

At 9:16 a.m. Tuesday, state police and members of the Hartford Police Department found Lapinski walking in the area of Asylum Avenue and Ann Ucello Street in the city.

When troopers told Lapinski to lay down on the ground, police said the suspect grabbed a knife from his waistband.

This prompted police to pull out their guns, with Lapinski complying with orders to drop the knife, according to the report.

While being taken to a Hartford PD vehicle, police said Lapinski became combative and started yelling obscenities, leading to a scuffle in the police car.

Police said one state police detective suffered minor injuries while struggling to secure Lapinski in the cruiser.

State police said further arrests are expected from other jurisdictions.

For the Connecticut State Police news page, click on this link.