Should cops chase people for traffic violations?

HARTFORD — A lawsuit brought by the mother of an Oxford teen who died in a police chase led to a debate in the state Supreme Court Monday about when police should and shouldn’t pursue suspects.

The boy, 15-year-old Brandon Giordano, was riding in the back seat of his friend’s Ford Mustang when it crashed in Oxford March 9, 2012, after a chase that began in Seymour when Police Officer Anthony Renaldi saw Eric Ramirez’s illegal “ground effects” lights.

Mother Angela Borelli’s lawsuit initially sought $15 million in damages when she filed the lawsuit, which claimed Renaldi shouldn’t have chased Ramirez’s car.

Superior Court Judge Theodore Tyma, in Derby, threw the case out of court in September 2017, agreeing with the town that Renaldi was acting with discretion during the chase, and thus “clothed in discretionary act immunity” which protects the town.

Lawyers representing Borelli and the town argued before the Supreme Court on Monday over the meaning of a state law concerning police chases, and what amount of discretion cops should have in deciding when — and when not to — engage in a pursuit.

Borelli’s lawyer, Steven J. Errante, said it should be up to a jury to decide whether the Renaldi acted appropriately based on expert testimony — and that he has lined up a former state trooper to testify Renaldi should not have chased Ramirez’s the car for a traffic infraction.

“We’re going down that road of basically they can chase with impunity, it doesn’t matter if it’s a traffic violation, as it was in this case, or they’re chasing a murderer,” Errante said. “There should be a difference between those things, but there doesn’t seem to be in the laws.”

A lawyer representing Seymour, Thomas Gerarde, said if that was a rule, “no one will ever stop.”

“I think as a simple matter of law and order, the police have to try and stop people, at least initially,” Gerarde said. “And then you make the judgment calls along the way and that’s the discretion that’s built into the statute.”

Ramirez, of Oxford, was sentenced to serve seven months behind bars after he pleaded no contest to charges of negligent homicide and engaging police in pursuit.

Renaldi was cleared by an internal investigation.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo In March 2012, students expressed their sorrow on paper during a vigil at Oxford High School for Brandon Giordano, who was killed in a crash.

Contributed photo Brandon Giordano, 15, of Oxford, was killed in an accident in March 2012.