An off-duty Connecticut middle school resource officer was captured on video punching a motorist in the face late last year, as reported by WTIC-TV.
When confronted by fellow police officers about the incident, Allen Ganter initially feigned ignorance about the punch, but changed his tune when shown the bodycam footage of the altercation.
The incident on December 8 came to light after a tip was received, leading to WTIC obtaining the video through a Freedom of Information request.
Thomas Brocuglio, 37, was driving his company vehicle with a dash camera recording when he encountered a Toyota Tacoma at a red light at the intersection of France Street and Cromwell Avenue in Rocky Hill, according to WTIC’s report.
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“What are we doing?” Brocuglio asked, honking his horn, expecting the Tacoma driver to make a right turn.
“Wait all f**kin’ day!” Brocuglio yelled, according to his dashcam. The station said Brocuglio soon gave the finger to the driver of the truck.
After exiting the Tacoma, Ganter, a 57-year-old corporal from the Meriden police force who was off-duty at the time, approached Brocuglio’s vehicle while displaying his badge.
With over 20 years of law enforcement experience, Ganter was on the verge of making his first puzzling error.
“You can’t take a right on red, you a**hole,” Ganter told Brocuglio, according to WTIC.
Problem for Ganter was that the sign doesn’t communicate that — and Brocuglio picked up on Ganter’s gaffe right away.
“Really? Where does it say that? It says ‘stop here on red,’” Brocuglio replied. Motorists can turn right on red when a sign says stop here on red.
Ganter soon was taking photos of Brocuglio’s license plates; Brocuglio accused Ganter of being on his phone; and Ganter then threatened to ticket Broculglio and call his supervisor, WTIC reported.
“Sure. Sounds good,” Brocuglio replied. “Let me get your badge number.”
Instead, Brocuglio received a punch to the face, administered by Ganter according to the station.
This marked the cop’s second error. Reportedly, Ganter verbally abused Brocuglio, questioning his identity and threatening arrest. In response, a visibly shocked Brocuglio warned Ganter of potential consequences for assaulting a civilian.
After Ganter departed, Brocuglio dialed 911 and reported the incident, detailing how he was struck by the officer through his car window.
Upon arrival, Rocky Hill Police documented in an incident report that Brocuglio appeared disoriented and possibly concussed from the punch. Furthermore, WTIC disclosed that Rocky Hill Police bodycam footage captured their interaction with Ganter at his residence.
“Is he pressing charges against me like for breach because I yelled at him and stuff?” Ganter asked one Rocky Hill officer.
“For assault because you hit him,” the Rocky Hill officer answered.
“He’s saying that I hit him?” Ganter replied.
Let’s just call that mistake number three.
“Yeah,” the Rocky Hill officer answered. “And he has video that you hit him.”
Amazingly, Ganter asked the Rocky Hill officers if he could charge Broculgio: “There’s nothing where I can press for breach for him yelling at me, whatever it is?”
Ganter, a school resource officer at Thomas Edison Middle School in Meriden, was accused of breach of peace and third-degree assault, as reported by WTIC.
Following an investigation by internal affairs, it was determined that Ganter had breached the department’s conduct regulations.
Consequently, he received a five-day suspension without pay and was mandated to undergo de-escalation training for the next three years.
“At the time Corporal Ganter was placed on administrative duty, he was also removed from his assignment as a School Resource Officer, and as a result of the discipline which was rendered as a part of the IA investigation, Corporal Ganter was permanently removed from his assignment as an SRO,” the department added in its statement to WTIC.
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