Daniel Tepfer
BRIDGEPORT -- Officer Juan
Santiago looked up from his lap where a thin ribbon of smoke was rising from a
hole in a cloth gun pouch, blood trickling from a corresponding hole in his
left thigh.
"Why didn't you tell
me the gun was loaded," he asked his breakfast mate, Detective Juan
Gonzalez.
On Tuesday morning, the
56-year-old Santiago, a 29-year veteran of the police force, surrendered at
theState Police barracks in Bethany, where he was charged with unlawful
discharge of a firearm -- a move many in the community said was long overdue.
The charge is a misdemeanor
and Santiago was released on a promise to appear pending arraignment in state
Superior Court here on Feb. 18. In the meantime, Santiago is on paid
administrative duty. His lawyer, John R. Gulash, declined comment.
"First, I would like
to say we are grateful that the officer is recovering from his injury,"
Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph L. Gaudett Jr. said. "We have said from the
outset that we requested the state police handle the investigation so the
public would have confidence that it would be fair and unbiased. The state
police conducted a thorough investigation, consulted with the State's
Attorney's Office and made a determination that we will respect."
The state police
investigation also pointed out in the arrest warrant affidavit the things
Bridgeport police did -- and didn't do -- in their own initial investigation.
For instance, while at St.
Vincent's Medical Centerafter the shooting, police officers spoke to Santiago,
but only discussed his well-being. They didn't discuss the incident, citing the
fact he was on medication at the time.
Twenty days later, Santiago
submitted a written memo to Bridgeport Police Capt. James Viadero on the
shooting. Although Santiago states he unzipped the pouch and was holding the
gun when it fired, the state police investigation determined the gun was fired
through the pouch.
Police never recovered the
bullet, the state police affidavit noted.
The shooting incident
sparked two protests in front of Bridgeport police headquarters calling for
Santiago to be charged. At the most recent event Feb. 4, the protesters
demanded to know why Santiago hadn't been charged, while a man who accidentally
fired his gun in his home on Jan. 28 had been arrested almost immediately.
The suspect in the January
case, 23-year-old Kenneth Sullivan, of Midland Street, was charged with
unlawful discharge of a firearm, second-degree reckless endangerment and
criminal mischief in the third degree, all misdemeanors.
On Tuesday, organizers of
the protests said they thought Santiago should face more charges.
"The officer who was
in a public place was probably more reckless and probably endangered more
people," said Palin Smith, who wondered why the officer hadn't been hit
with the same charges as Sullivan.
"It's still not
exactly fair and equal application, but at least it's something, finally,"
saidJonathan Hardy, a firearms instructor from Meriden.
On Dec. 17, police said
Santiago was examining a handgun in the Bagel King restaurant when the gun went
off, wounding him in the leg and shattering a window in the crowded restaurant.
Although Santiago was
surrounded by fellow police officers at the time, he was not immediately
arrested. Instead, after an initial investigation, Gaudett agreed to turn the
case over to the state police, a decision that sparked much criticism
especially in light of a recent arrest by city police of a resident who
accidentally fired a gun while cleaning it.
Bridgeport police also got
"memos" from the three other police officers who were with Santiago
when the gun went off.
Following the morning
lineup Dec. 17, the four officers, Sgt. James Remele, detectives Mark Graham
and Juan Gonzalez and Santiago, went to Bagel King for breakfast while on duty,
according to the warrant affidavit. Gonzalez carried the .45-caliber Beretta he
had borrowed from Dr. Richard Lovanio, of Trumbull, in a zippered cloth pouch
The officers sat down at a
table adjacent to the outdoor patio area, and after placing their breakfast
orders, Gonzalez set the pouch with the gun on the table in front of him.
Santiago then grabbed the pouch and placed it in his lap to look at the gun.
"At this point, I
looked away from P/O Santiago and I heard a loud bang," Gonzalez stated in
his memo, according to the affidavit. "Startled, I looked back to P/O
Santiago and realized something was wrong with him. I went over to his side of
the table and saw that he had shot his left leg. He stated, `Why didn't you
tell me the gun was loaded?' "
Gonzalez said he then took
Santiago's duty weapon out of his holster and placed it on the table, and took
his own gun and placed it on the table along with his cellphone and badge so he
could use his belt as a tourniquet.
In his memo, Santiago
states that after taking the pouch containing the gun from Gonzalez, he
unzipped the pouch and took hold of the gun.
"I immediately pointed
the firearm downward. In an attempt to make the weapon safe, I pulled the slide
to the rear in order to check the chamber for any live rounds. As I did so, the
slide slid forward. At this time, I observed that the hammer was pulled to the
rear of the firearm. I placed my thumb on the hammer in (sic) attempt to safe
guard the firearm, the hammer slipped from my thumb, hitting the firing pin,
accidentally discharging the firearm. I was struck in my left thigh. I was
transported to St. Vincent's Hospital for treatment."
The affidavit states that a
state police firearms examiner determined there was no malfunction in the gun.
"The firearm was discharged and appears to have been shot through the
case, through Santiago's leg and then directly out the Bagel King's lower
window," the affidavit states.
It continues that Gonzalez
confirmed that the gun was in the same position as the day he borrowed it from
Lovanio and that there was not a round in the chamber.
Staff Writer Wes Duplantier
contributed to this report.
