Activist’s case continued as arrest is reviewed

NEW HAVEN — The case of John Lugo, co-founder of city-based immigrant advocacy organization Unidad Latina en Acción, was continued Tuesday, as an internal police investigation into his arrest, which the group alleged may have been politically motivated, remains in progress.

Lugo was arrested Dec. 13 and charged with charged with interfering with an officer / resisting arrest and failure to comply with fingerprinting. He said Tuesday the case had been continued to Feb. 16.

In a police report on the initial incident, Officer Kenneth Cobb said a caller reported finding an unoccupied car pressed against her vehicle on Howe Street at around 9:30 p.m. that day in December. After moving her vehicle, there was a “visible scuff mark” on the rear of the car, which the caller said had not been there before, he said.

Another man, later allegedly identified as Lugo, arrived at the scene, Cobb said. He said his vehicle was parked there first, and alleged the woman had struck it with her car.

Cobb, saying he needed to complete an accident report, sought the man’s license, registration and insurance, according to the report. The man walked away; Cobb said he chased after the man and “told him he was not free to leave the scene.”

“I put my arm in front of the unknown male and the unknown male walked through my arm. I grabbed both of the unknown male’s arms and told him to put his hands behind his back,” said Cobb in the report. “The unknown male continued to walk away from the scene and actively resist by pulling his arms forward.”

Cobb said he then “brought the (man) ... to the ground on a grass lawn and handcuffed him for interfering with a police investigation.”

Lugo said Tuesday he hoped the charges would be dropped at his next court date, as body camera footage of the incident is reviewed, and noted he had no immediate plans to plead guilty.

“It was nothing,” said Lugo. The response and his time in custody “was a waste of resources,” he said.

Nayeli Garcia, a leader with ULA, said at the time that the group believed the arrest may have been retaliatory, noting that Lugo and other ULA members recently had advocated against naming Interim Chief Renee Dominguez to the full-time role leading the department.

Lugo said Tuesday he was unsure whether the arrest was politically motivated, but said he believed it was possible.

Given the many problems of society, Lugo said he was nonplussed by what he considered an outsized response. The alleged crash was a minor matter, he said, and Cobb’s decision to bring him to the ground was inappropriate.

“It’s just a waste,” said Lugo. “I don’t understand how (and why) the system works.”

Police, after initially releasing Cobb’s body camera footage on Dec. 14, released angles from other responding officers on Dec. 22. Officer Scott Shumway said at the time the department “remains committed to transparency and the fair and equitable treatment of its citizens.”

In one of the latter pieces of body camera footage, after Lugo has been placed in a police cruiser, an officer queries Lugo about what he would do to “decrease violence in the city of New Haven,” asks whether he “cares what skin color our chief is,” and questions him about who he believes should be chief of the department.

Lugo exclaims “what” and laughs in response, then says it should not be “that (expletive)” Dominguez.