New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Man’s wrongful arrest suit partially settled
$450K coming from North Haven; East Haven part remains
“Nobody’s going to understand how I felt taking that (police) picture that day, being accused of something I didn’t do. You can never put a price on that kind of feeling in your life.”
Joseph Arcangelo, who was charged with robbery in 2018, a case that later was dropped
NORTH HAVEN — A Wallingford man’s suit against police officers in North Haven and East Haven, which alleged there was no probable cause to arrest him, has been settled on the North Haven end for $450,000, according to his attorney.
Joseph Arcangelo was charged with robbery in 2018, a case that later was dropped. He filed the lawsuit in 2019, about five months after another man was charged with the crime.
“At the end of the day, nobody’s going to understand how I felt taking that (police) picture that day, being accused of something I didn’t do. You can never put a price on that kind of feeling in
your life,” said Arcangelo.
“I guess I’m as happy as I could be with the situation,” he said.
In the suit, according to the latest amended complaint, Arcangelo, represented by Waterbury-based attorney Michelle Holmes, had alleged East Haven police Capt. Joseph Murgo and now-retired North Haven Officer Val Queiroga falsely identified him as the individual captured in surveillance footage of the robbery of an Exxon station on Washington Avenue on Jan. 18, 2018, then provided “false” statements that contained erroneous details about his history during the investigation.
Arcangelo alleged in the amended complaint that Murgo disliked him as the two knew each other growing up; in his deposition, Murgo denied knowing Arcangelo, according to his statement of facts on the case, and said that he only indicated the suspect in the case “resembled” Arcangelo.
Arcangelo also alleged in the amended complaint that Queiroga “harbored ill feelings” after dating Arcangelo’s sister, who ended the relationship. Attorney Patrick Allen of Karsten & Tallberg LLC denied this on
Queiroga’s behalf, but acknowledged the prior relationship, in his response to the complaint. Allen also argued that Queiroga had not firmly identified Arcangelo, a motion for partial summary judgment says.
The complaint alleged that a North Haven detective, who Allen wrote in the motion has since left the department, and an officer included statements by Murgo and Queiroga identifying Arcangelo in an affidavit for Arcangelo’s arrest, and, although the victim in the case identified another man as the culprit in a photo lineup, said in the warrant that the victim had identified Arcangelo.
Arcangelo was charged at the time with first-degree robbery and sixth-degree larceny, according to past reporting, before the charges were later dropped.
Arcangelo said Thursday that the situation had caused him emotional stress and pain, costing him both peace of mind and ties to others.
Arcangelo said he had withdrawn from the world to some extent after the arrest, feeling like others were judging him.
“It was terrible,” said Arcangelo. “It was an experience I wouldn’t wish on (anyone).”
Another man, Bryan Wolfe, subsequently was
arrested on April 1, 2019, in connection with the robbery of the Exxon station, according to North Haven police.
Wolfe subsequently pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery with a firearm, according to Connecticut judicial records.
Neither Murgo nor Queiroga could be reached for comment. Police Chief Kevin Glenn, named in the lawsuit as a defendant, referred a request for comment to First Selectman Michael Freda.
Freda said in a statement Thursday that the officers and town denied wrongdoing, but preferred to avoid the litigation process, as the claim would be paid by insurance.
“The Town of North Haven and both the current and former police officers named as defendants, denied all of the allegations of wrongdoing and were prepared to defend this case at trial. However, the Town’s insurance company offered to settle the matter to avoid the time, expense and possible protracted litigation and the plaintiffs accepted the settlement,” said Freda. “I support my North Haven police department and the fine job that they do to protect my community.”
The civil case remains pending against Murgo and the town of East Haven, Holmes said Thursday.
East Haven Mayor Joseph Carfora did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Attorney John Conway of Wallingford-based Loughlin Fitzgerald, P.C., representing the town and Murgo, said East Haven Town Attorney Michael Luzzi would comment on the case.
Luzzi said the case remains pending and said East Haven awaited a ruling on its motion for summary judgment, which it filed in December.
“Mr. Arcangelo’s claims against Captain Murgo and East Haven have not been settled. Attorney Conway has filed a motion for summary judgment in this matter which asks the court to dismiss this case,” Luzzi said in a statement. “We are awaiting a decision from the Court on that motion.”
In that motion, Conway argues Murgo’s involvement in the case was limited to the suggestion that the suspect resembled Arcangelo, and that he was not an investigating officer in the case.
Holmes argued in a motion opposing East Haven’s attempt at summary judgment that Murgo was an investigating officer, acting in his official capacity to provide the information to North Haven officers.
Q: I do hope you answer this, as I count on your counsel and I am struggling with this. I have a friend of long standing who was not in the required categories for the COVID-19 vaccine but nonetheless took advantage of the early confusion to cut the vaccine line, metaphorically pushing someone out of the lifeboat who is in much greater need.
She justifies this by saying that she pursued the vaccine aggressively, it was offered to her, so what could she do, and most of her friends were doing the same thing. She sees it as taking care of herself.
God knows, it is not my place to judge, I have more than enough to manage my own flaws and temptations, but this remains a stumbling block between us.
To throw away a friend of longstanding feels wrong on some levels, but to steal a miracle, as you say, is so not worthy of any of our souls and feels so unforgivable to me.
How would you think this through and what would you do? I do hope you answer. It matters to me. Blessings and health. You are an angel without wings to me. — L
A: Remember the scene in the movie “Titanic” where some of the men in first class took seats in the lifeboats away from women and children?
Well, we are all passengers on the COVID Titanic and some people are, again, taking seats in the lifeboats that deserve to go to others.
I was recently told by a friend that he knew a wealthy businessman who offered $100,000 to a health professional for vaccine shots.
My doctorate in philosophy happens to be in the field of medical ethics and I have published in medical journals my thoughts on the ethical problem you raise, which is the allocation of scarce medical resources. This ethical problem is called triage.
In triage there are actually two tests. The first test is the Criterion of Inclusion. This is the first cut of triage. It involves identifying the group of people whose lives are most at risk from the virus.
This group obviously includes the elderly and those with comorbidities, but it also includes medical professionals and EMT workers and first responders who are put into close contact with infected patients because of their work.
The second test is the Criterion of Selection. This is the second cut of triage. It requires us to determine who among the first group of severely vulnerable people should get the virus first.
I believe that the fairest approach in the selection process, to put it plainly, is flipping a coin. Pure randomness means that you give the vaccines to the first people you see from the first group without distinctions.
The distribution system in America has tried to do triage in a fair way. Only the elderly can get appointments and all of them who qualify must line up and wait their turn. That is how I got my shots.
However, the triage of the COVID vaccines still faces daunting ethical problems. Should teachers who are not in the vulnerable first group be allowed to cut the line so that they can return to the classroom?
Should politicians who must vote on the social policy of triage be allowed to cut the line? I hear from clergy of all faiths who want to cut the line so that they can perform funerals in person.
There are also the technical difficulties of making an appointment when you are not adept at using computers or not able to get through on the phone. There is the problem of workers who are eligible but not able to get off work to get vaccinated.
And finally, there are the cheaters who somehow are able to game the system to get shots they do not deserve on any level.
Triage is a messy process, and it is hardly ever completely fair, but all these difficulties must be overcome in order to secure public trust.
As to your friend, dear L, I would need to know some details your email omitted. Did your friend actually cut the line or did she merely persevere and spend all day on the phone making an appointment to which she was entitled?
Working hard to get what you deserve is not cheating. If she was not eligible because of her age or profession or condition, how did she cheat?
I would not advise you to throw away a friendship because of a set of facts that are not clear. If, on the other hand, she is in fact a “low down, dirty, good for nuthin’ skunk,” letting her go is something that would become inevitable anyway. My best advice: Make sure that all your good friends are actually good!