Four East Haven Police Officers, Civil Rights Offenses, Connecticut 2023

Four East Haven Police officers, including Sergeant John Miller, were arrested and charged with violating the civil rights of members of the East Haven community. The indictment alleges that between 2007 and 2011, Miller, Officers David Cari, Dennis Spaulding, and Jason Zullo conspired to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate various members of the East Haven community in violation of their constitutional rights.

The indictment alleges that the officers maintained an environment in which the use of unreasonable force and unreasonable searches and seizures was tolerated and encouraged. It is alleged that Cari, Spaulding, and Zullo engaged in unreasonable searches and seizures, including unlawful searches of premises and arrests of individuals without probable cause or based on false and misleading information.

The indictment also alleges that the officers used unreasonable force against victims who were unarmed, neither resisting nor interfering with the police, but rather securely under the control of the police or otherwise cooperative. In some cases, the victims were handcuffed with their hands behind their backs when officers assaulted them.

The indictment further alleges that Spaulding and Zullo intimidated, harassed, and humiliated members of the Latino community and their advocates. Spaulding and Zullo also allegedly conducted unreasonable and illegal searches at Latino-owned businesses, and Spaulding allegedly intimidated and harassed advocates who worked to defend the rights of members of the Latino community.

The indictment alleges more than 30 overt acts by the four defendants and others in furtherance of the conspiracy, including a July 2007 incident during which Miller and another officer used unreasonable force against a victim in the vicinity of the Saltonstall Parkway, and a November 2008 incident during which Spaulding used excessive force against an individual in the parking lot of a Latino-owned restaurant and bar.

The indictment was unsealed on the morning of the arrests. The officers are scheduled to appear in court at a later date to face the charges.

Mandatory Facts: Defendant/respondent: Sergeant John Miller, Officers David Cari, Dennis Spaulding, and Jason Zullo, Exact criminal charges: Conspiring to violate and violating the civil rights of members of the East Haven community, City and state: East Haven, Connecticut, Exact date: 2023, Sentence or outcome: Pending, Dollar amounts: N/A

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