New Britain, CT. Police Raid Wrong home in Child Porn Investigation, Rip Man's Catheter Out

From the "Insult (To Civil Liberties) AND Injury (Bodily) Dept." Police investigating child porn suspect allegedly break into the wrong man's house, without a warrant, "toss" the place and then, for good measure, as the man was recovering from recent intestinal surgery, rip out his catheter, apparently still searching vainly for non-existent evidence.

The Boston Globe reports:

A 60-year-old New Britain man is accusing city police officers of breaking into his home without a search warrant and assaulting him by tearing out a catheter he was using while recovering from surgery.

Andrew Glover filed a notice with the city Thursday that he intends to pursue a federal civil rights lawsuit. He claims the officers inflicted severe injuries to his organs as he was recovering from intestinal surgery in February.

Glover's lawyer, Paul Spinella, said officers illegally entered his client's apartment twice, on Jan. 30 and Feb. 28, during a child pornography investigation that led to the arrest of Glover's neighbors. Spinella says Glover wasn't involved in those crimes, has not been charged and has no criminal record.

"The poor guy," Spinella said. "They ripped the catheter off his person. They assaulted the guy. He's got major problems as a result of this. He's a mess now."

Lt. James Wardwell, a police spokesman, said Friday that the department had not received the intent to sue notice. He said the department could not comment on the allegations, which were first reported Friday by the New Britain Herald, because of an ongoing criminal investigation of Glover. He declined to elaborate.

Spinella said the lawsuit would claim that the officers, whose names have not been released, violated Glover's constitutional and civil rights by harming him and conducting illegal search and seizures. He intends to file the lawsuit in U.S. District Court within the two-year statute of limitations.

Spinella also wrote in the legal notice that police inflicted "extreme emotional distress, harm to reputation, harm to employment and related financial loss, extensive physical injury ... to intestinal and body organs."

The notice says damage to Glover's urethra resulted in "substantial permanent physical disability."

Glover, a former English teacher, could not be reached. His home phone number is not listed.

Spinella said officers "tossed" Glover's apartment during a search on Jan. 30. In February, he said, Glover returned home from the hospital after his surgery to find officers searching his apartment again.

It was during the Feb. 28 incident, Spinella said, that the officers assaulted Glover and left him alone in the apartment without calling for an emergency medical response. The lawyer said the police didn't have search warrants in either alleged incident.