Details of hate crime arrest at odds between police, suspect

STAMFORD — The arrest last week of a Stamford man, who according to police yelled a racial slur at a park attendant and warned “Black lives don’t matter,” was met by accusations from the defendant’s attorney that the parks police officer who pursued the matter made a false arrest and had a personal grudge against his client.

Richard Palkimas, 53, was arrested Oct. 8 in connection with an alleged incident on

Aug. 9 in which he reportedly was stopped while trying to drive into Cove Island Park, according to his three page arrest warrant. The attendant at the time said Palkimas could not enter because he had no parking sticker on the Volkswagen Beetle he was driving, the arrest warrant said.

Palkimas allegedly became angry and told the gatekeeper “Black lives don’t matter” and also addressed him and the other parking attendants present, all of whom were either Black or had brown skin, with the “N” word, the affidavit states. The attendant said he had to leap out of the way when Palkimas drove aggressively through the gate and left before police arrived, the affidavit said.

The investigation went nowhere for nearly a month until the same man in the blue Volkswagen allegedly showed up at the park in September and again blew through the gate without a sticker, the affidavit said. The car was stopped after that incident and the driver was identified as Palkimas, according to police.

While investigating the September incident, police were told the car and driver were the same from the alleged incident a month earlier, which police confirmed through investigation, according to the affidavit.

That also is when the attendant reportedly told police about the August incident in greater detail, including alleged use of racist language, according to the affidavit. The document indicates the attendant initially had described the driver’s behavior in August as “abusive.”

When police, after obtaining a warrant, showed up at at Palkimas’ Soundview Avenue home to arrest him last week, they had to chase him through several properties and tackle him to take him into custody, police said. He was charged with intimidation based on bias, reckless endangerment and failure to stop for a park attendant, plus an added charge of resisting arrest, police said.

But Palkima’s attorney, Lindy Urso, said his client is innocent of all charges, including resisting. Urso said Palkimas was being harassed by someone online, and when police showed up in unmarked cars and plainclothes, Palkimas thought he was about to be assaulted.

“They pulled down the driveway in unmarked cars. He didn’t know they were cops. He was trying to turn himself in. He did not know they were cops,” Urso said.

As for the allegations at the park, Urso said they were made up.

“This is a false and defamatory arrest. Mr. Palkimas doesn’t have a racist bone in his body; in fact, he supports Black Lives Matter and their efforts to defund the police,” Urso said.

He said the parks police officer who obtained the arrest warrant, Peter Gould, has had an ongoing problem with Palkimas driving through the park. The warrant states the that the officer was aware of Palkimas from past incidents.

Urso also said that drivers need a parking permit only if they wish to park in Cove Island Park.

The allegation about racial slurs came, Urso said, only after Palkimas had called in a complaint to the department against Gould. Then, Urso said, Gould elicited a more detailed allegation that suddenly included the slurs.

Urso also complained that Gould did not attempt to speak to Palkimas before applying for the warrant. If he had, Gould would have found out that there is an independent witness who refutes that the slurs were spoken, Urso said.

But according to the arrest affidavit, another parking employee told police he heard the “Black lives don’t matter” comment shouted by the man in the blue Volkswagen.

“It’s a sad day when city employees with a grudge can use the system to falsely brand someone a racist like this. Mr. Palkimas very much looks forward to clearing his name and then ensuring that something like this doesn’t happen to any other Stamford resident,” Urso said.

Assistant Police Chief Tom Wuennemann said he would not answer every one of Urso’s allegations. But he said that he saw the officer’s body camera video of when the parking attendant reported the August incident. Wuennemann did not elaborate. He added that Palkimas has had a lot of contact with members of the Police Department and that this was not Palkimas’s first disagreement with park attendants.

“Officer Gould responded to a complaint and investigated the complaint properly and he submitted his arrest warrant application to the court, which they signed,” Wuennemann said. “He (Palkimas) will have his day in court.”

Wuennemann said he was not aware of any complaint made by Palkimas against Gould.

Attempts to reach Gould for comment — a call to the Stamford police union and a note to his email address — were not successful.