Supreme Court Won't Hear Appeal in Easton Police Raid Case That Left Norwalk Man Dead

Editor’s Note: We first ran this story on April 22 but ICYMI the appeal from five local police departments will not go to the Supreme Court. The case involves a man who was shot down by a Monroe Police officer during a raid, here are the details again. 

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear an appeal by five local Connecticut police departments who say they should be protected in a civil rights claims from a 2008 SWAT raid where a Norwalk man was killed, Hearst Connecticut Media Group reports.

The five departments include Easton, Monroe, Trumbull, Darien and Wilton, who responded as part of the Southwest Regional Emergency Response Team (S.W.E.R.T.) to secure the premises of Ronald Terebesi’s Easton home on May 18, 2008.

As a result of the ruling, a federal jury will be able to decide whether the departments violated Terebesi’s constitutional rights when the response team entered his home and fatally shot his guest, Gonzalo Guizan, 33, the publication reports. Initially the departments had agreed to pay Guizan’s family $3.5 million to settle the lawsuit.

Terebesi claims to suffer post traumatic stress disorder and states he was injured during the raid where he and Guizan were pinned by Monroe Police officer Michael Sweeney. Guizan was later shot by Sweeney.

A search warrant was secured on the morning of May 18, 2008 by Easton Police for the seizure of a tin container of crack cocaine and crack smoking pipes. Easton Police Chief at the time, John Solomon requested the S.W.E.R.T. assistance, due to the history of drug activity and the previous presence of firearms at the residence on 91 Dogwood Drive, according to the official report by the State’s Attorney.

Police had also learned that Terebesi was also the registered owner of a 9mm Berretta semi-automatic handgun.

During the raid, authorities recovered two crack pipes, a tin box containing residues and a plastic baggie with white powder contents that tested positive for cocaine. No firearms were found on the premises, the report states.

The history of firing included a May 7, 2008 incident where 12 shotgun rounds had been fired through the home’s windows. Another incident involved a revolver that was seized from Terebesi’s residence in late March 2008 by police. Police had also received reports of drug activity at the residence prior to the raid.

According to Hearst, the raid was conducted two days after a neighborhood group, that included the First Selectman complained to Solomon about Terebesi.

Read the full Hearst story here.

Read the full State Attorney’s report here.

Image via Shutterstock

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