3 Connecticut Troopers Sued Over Arrest Of Man Protesting West Hartford DUI Checkpoint
Three Connecticut state troopers are accused in a lawsuit filed Thursday of violating the constitutional rights of a protester at a sobriety checkpoint by seizing his pistol and camera and then arresting him on bogus criminal charges.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut filed the lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Michael Picard. Named in the lawsuit, which does not say how much money in damages is being sought, are troopers John Barone, Patrick Torneo and John Jacobi.
Trooper Kelly Grant, a state police spokeswoman, said an internal affairs investigation is active and referred other questions to the state attorney general's office, which declined to comment. The three troopers didn't immediately return messages Thursday.
Picard has become known to state and local police in the Hartford area for protesting drunken-driving checkpoints, which he says are constitutional search-and-seizure violations and a waste of public money, the lawsuit says.
Read more: http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-west-hartford-protester-arrest-lawsuit-0916-20160915-story.html