Callum Jones
Many people on the internet have been left outraged after a video of a police officer allegedly punching a driver went viral.
Back in December 2023, Thomas Brocuglio stopped behind a truck belonging to off-duty police officer Allen Ganter at an intersection.
The video, which was posted to the Newsnercom YouTube channel, sees Brocuglio honking his horn and yelling after the officer stopped in a right-turn-only lane.
"What the f*** are we doing?" the man from Enfield could be heard saying as he directed the phrase 'd**k head' in the direction of the police officer's vehicle.
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"What are you doing? Wait all f****** day," the man added as he beeped his horn once more.
The off-duty police officer then got out of his car and spoke to Brocuglio as he pulled down his window.
"You want to be a d**k? You can’t take a right on red a*****e," Ganter said.
"Really? Where does it say that? It says ‘stop here on red,'" Brocuglio replied.
"I’ll see you with a ticket and I’ll call your supervisor," Ganter added as the confrontation soon got nasty.
After the driver asked Ganter for his badge number, the off-duty officer said: "Who do you think you’re f******g with? You want to get arrested?"
"You’re going to get arrested for assaulting a civilian," Brocuglio said as he appeared to be punched in the face by the officer.
Officer Ganter was charged with second-degree breach of peace and third-degree assault following the incident and was admitted to the accelerated rehabilitation program.
Ganter kept his job however, as he was suspended for a period of five days as a result of the incident.
"He should be fired. NOT SUSPENDED!" one person commented on YouTube, while a second added: "Should be fired and charged."
UNILAD has reached out to Meriden Police for comment.
Ganter reportedly expressed his embarrassment to Meriden Police Chief Rob Rosado about the incident.
According to an IA report, Ganter said: "Lieutenant, there's always something going on in our lives, but that’s not an excuse for what I did.
"It was just one of those, you know, moments of just plain stupidity on my part."
Lt. Darrin McKay, who wrote the report added: "Ganter said that he could not recall what was said specifically, but that at some point, he just ‘phased out’ and that this was the point where he initiated his physical contact with the victim.
"Ganter said that at that time he recalled feeling something on his hand and specifically on his far knuckle and he remembers thinking ‘Oh my God, what just happened?"