State Trooper Henry Arroyo, who was arrested in a domestic assault in New Britain in June, was involved in a domestic incident with the same woman in 2004 that was improperly investigated, a report states.
Arroyo was not arrested or disciplined after the 2004 incident, during which he grabbed at his wife Maritza O'Neill's hair and pulled out an earring as she drove, she told police.
The New York State Police reviewed 19 cases — including Arroyo's — in 2006, in a highly publicized investigation of the Connecticut department's internal affairs division. The investigation found, among other things, that internal affairs officers failed to address misconduct of some troopers.
The 2004 incident involving Arroyo and O'Neill stood out as an example of such an improper investigation. A subsequent Connecticut investigation concluded Arroyo should have been charged with assault.
Arroyo, who was a passenger in a vehicle driven by O'Neill, was off-duty at the time of the incident, according to state police investigations of the incident and the New York investigators' report. Their two children and a friend of one of their children were also in the vehicle.
As the couple fought, O'Neill attempted to pull over when she saw a state police car in the breakdown lane on Route 9 in Berlin. She cut off another vehicle, which struck her from behind, and she crashed into the state police car. Trooper Stanley Domijan, who was in the cruiser, had pulled over to help a disabled motorist.
Domijan, after exiting his police car, said he overheard Arroyo tell O'Neill that he could lose his job if she talked. Arroyo interrupted O'Neill multiple times as she was being interviewed by state police about the domestic assault and spoke to her in Spanish, the reports state.
O'Neill, who initially said Arroyo had tugged at her hair and pulled out her earring, eventually stated that she had not been physically assaulted and that their domestic dispute had only been verbal.
Arroyo's intimidation of the victim was not documented in a sergeant's report, although it was detailed in a supplemental report by a trooper, the investigation found.
A video recording of the highway crash, which also captured Arroyo's conversation in Spanish with O'Neill, disappeared from the back of Domijan's police car. Arroyo denied taking the tape, but he admitted to passing through an unsecured garage where the car had been stored two days after the accident, according to the investigation.
O'Neill was issued a traffic ticket for making a restricted turn.
Arroyo refused to provide a statement in the criminal investigation. He was ordered to call the Employee Assistance Program concerning his possible family problems. He called, but never met with anyone from EAP.
In Arroyo's case, New York investigators found that Connecticut State Police supervisors did not take proper control of the incident scene and did not open an internal affairs investigation.
"While Trooper A [Arroyo] escaped unscathed by his documented illegal and dangerous actions, it is equally distressing that none of the supervisors or command staff involved in the case were held accountable for their apparent neglect of duty," the report said.
Connecticut state police reopened the case in 2007 and determined that Arroyo should have been charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct, but the statute of limitations had expired by then, according to the Connecticut investigation.
Other possible charges included tampering with a witness, intimidation of a witness and risk of injury to a minor, the investigation found.
State police Lt. J. Paul Vance confirmed that Arroyo was not disciplined in connection with the 2004 domestic incident, even after the New York State Police issued their report. He said the older incident may be taken into consideration in the current investigation.
Arroyo and O'Neill were arrested June 25 after fighting at their home in New Britain. Both were charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct.
Arroyo has been on administrative duty since his arrest June 25 in New Britain. Vance said the incident will be investigated internally to see if he violated any of the department's rules.
Regarding the New York department's findings, Vance said, "We certainly took the New York report to heart. We instituted changes in our internal affairs operations and presently our internal affairs operation is completely different than it was in yesteryear."
Arroyo's attorney, Jeffrey L. Ment, declined to comment.
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