Hartford Police Release Video of Controversial Arrests

HARTFORD, CT — After several unsuccessful attempts, the Hartford Police Department was authorized Wednesday to release a video taken during a motor vehicle pursuit and arrest which culminated in West Hartford in June.

Allegations about excessive force being used by officers involved in the incident, including the kicking of a handcuffed suspect by a Hartford sergeant, are being investigated.

Both suspects in the case, Ricardo Perez and Emilio Diaz, bore visible facial and head injuries in their booking photos taken after their arrests.

"Preliminary review of the incident and available evidence raised serious concerns of excessive force used by the officer(s)," Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley said. "As a result, the Hartford Police Department launched an immediate internal investigation on Sunday, June 5, 2016. Contact was made between HPD, the West Hartford Police Department, the Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut State’s Attorney’s office. This incident is being reviewed and investigated by the Connecticut State’s Attorney’s office to determine if criminal charges are warranted."

Foley said police officials wanted public release of a dashboard camera video of the incident, taken from a West Hartford cruiser.

"We have already shared information and had communication with our community about this incident on several occasions. However, we understand those conversations have less of an impact without the video evidence," Foley said. "In sensitive incidents related to police use of force, it has been our practice to release as much information as possible as soon as it is available. This investigation is under the control of the Connecticut State’s Attorney’s Office and we were specifically instructed not to release the video while their investigation was ongoing. We had sent several requests to the Connecticut State’s Attorney’s Office (on the record) to share the video with our community and public. Those requests were previously denied."

The Connecticut State’s Attorney’s Office authorized the release of the video Wednesday. It may be viewed by following this link to WFSB-TV.

Photos courtesy of Hartford Police Department