Man sues police, alleging unlawful detention

WINSTED — A Connecticut man recently sued two Winsted police officers and a town dispatcher, alleging they unlawfully arrested him after mistaking him for a relative of his.

In the complaint, Jerry M. Smith said he was stopped for allegedly talking on his cellphone while driving in Winsted. The suit claims he was stopped by officers Brandon Simmons and Daniel Pietrafesa.

Town dispatcher Chelsea DiMauro allegedly told Simmons and Pietrafesa that there were warrants pending for Smith’s arrest; the officers then took him into custody, according to the complaint.

But the warrants, Smith said, were actually for a relative. Despite telling the officers this multiple times, he was taken back to the Winsted Police Department.

“The defendants falsely arrested the plaintiff because they believed he had multiple arrest warrants,” Bridgeport attorney Robert M. Berke said on Smith’s behalf in the complaint. “Despite the fact that the plaintiff urged the defendants that they were mistaking him for a relative, the defendants nevertheless arrested the plaintiff and took him in to custody.”

At the station, police checked Smith’s date of birth and Social Security number against those of his relatives, finding that he was not the individual wanted on the warrants, according to the complaint.

“As direct and proximate result of the actions of the defendants, the Plaintiff suffered severe emotional distress including great humiliation, embarrassment, anxiety, stress, emotional and mental upset,” Berke said in the complaint. “The defendants acted with deliberate indifference and failed to act to prevent the

wrongful detention and arrest of the plaintiff, and failed to act to end the wrongful detention of the plaintiff.”

Smith is requesting a

trial by jury in the civil case.

Simmons, Pietrafesa and DiMauro are not yet represented by an attorney, according to federal judicial records.

Police Chief William Fitzgerald directed a request to comment to Town

Attorney Kevin Nelligan, who did not immediately respond to a message Tuesday.

Pietrafesa, an 11year veteran of the force, was named the department’s Officer of the Year in 2018.

“His passion for community policing (stands

out),” said Fitzgerald at the time. “He is a DARE officer and the children love to see him.”

Simmons was sworn in as a Winsted police officer in April 2017.

Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media A Winchester police car, as seen outside of the department in Winsted.