An off-duty police officer has been reprimanded after dashcam footage showed him punching the driver of the car behind him.
The altercation took place in December, when Meriden police officer Corporal Allen Ganter was sat at a red light at an intersection in Meriden, Connecticut.
Thomas Brocuglio pulled up behind him as he attempted to turn right on red, and could be heard in his dashcam video questioning Ganter's driving as he asked: "What are you doing?"
Brocuglio honked at Ganter, who wasn't turning, and held up his middle finger in the direction of Ganter's car.
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It was at that point that Ganter got out of the car and waved his police badge towards Brocuglio, telling him: “You can’t turn on red."
In response, Brocuglio asked: “Really? Where does it say that? It says 'stop here on red,' and you are the one sitting on your phone."
Ganter argued he had actually been 'moving something in [his] bag' and threatened to give Brocuglio a ticket, prompting Brocuglio to ask for the officer's badge number.
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The footage then showed Ganter reaching through Brocuglio's open window and punching him in the face.
Brocuglio accused the officer of 'assaulting a civilian', and quickly called the police department to report the incident.
According to an arrest warrant cited by NBC Connecticut, Brocuglio told officers he was left dazed and possibly concussed by the encounter, with swelling, redness and irritation to his left cheek.
Police then attended Ganter's residence, where bodycam footage showed the off-duty officer asking: “So, he is saying that I hit him?
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“There's nothing where I can press for breach for him yelling at me?”
Ganter later admitted he hit Brocuglio, saying “My fault, I’m wrong, I shouldn’t have."
The Meriden police department launched an internal affairs investigation into the incident and found that Ganter had violated the department's rules of conduct during the encounter with Brocuglio.
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The officer, who is a school resource officer at a local middle school, was charged with breach of peace and 3rd degree assault.
He was consequently suspended for five days without pay and is being required to attend mandatory de-escalation training for three consecutive years.
In a statement to Fox 61, Meriden Police said: "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. "
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UNILAD has reached out to Meriden Police for further comment.
Emily Brown