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NORWALK, Conn. – Two Wilton brothers were arrested early Monday and charged with scuffling with police officers, Norwalk Police reported. One of the brothers was shot with a stun gun and taken to Norwalk hospital. Police said both brothers appeared to be intoxicated.
The incident began when off-duty Norwalk officer Thomas Sullivan, who was driving on North Main Street in his own vehicle, slammed on his breaks to avoid hitting Thomas McLaughlin, 28, of 30 Friendlee Lane, Wilton, who was stumbling in the road, Sgt. Lisa Cotto said. Sullivan beeped his horn and McLaughlin slapped the right side of Sullivan's hood, said something incoherent and walked into the road again, stumbling toward the Webster Street parking lot, Cotto said.
Sullivan, who was not in uniform, told McLaughlin to sit down, Cotto said. McLaughlin appeared not to understand, became defensive and tried to punch Sullivan in the face but missed, Cotto said.
Meanwhile, McLaughlin's brother Michael, 31, also of 30 Friendlee Lane, Wilton, arrived in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, Cotto said. He got out, charged Sullivan and said he would knock Sullivan out, according to Cotto.
Sullivan told them both he was an off-duty police officer, but Michael McLaughlin kept trying to separate him from Thomas, Cotto said. "I'm a cop, get off me," Sullivan said, but the tussle continued.
When Officer Garret Kruger arrived, Michael McLaughlin was pushing Sullivan, Cotto said. Kruger grabbed the older brother and ordered him to stop fighting, that they were police, but the altercation continued. At this point, Michael McLaughlin was shot with a stun gun, Cotto said.
Sullivan and Officer James Mosher detained Thomas McLaughlin. Michael McLaughlin was taken to Norwalk Hospital to be treated for his stun gun wounds. He was then taken to police headquarters and arrested.
Both brothers were charged with breach of peace second degree and interfering with an officer. They were released on a promise to appear. Their court date is Oct. 9.
Comments (9)
Seems the NPD can not do anything without the stun gun..I wonder what the NPD use of this weapon vs other towns would be.It sure seem they over use it..I would say this is due to the wrong people be hired as cops as in immature children that are actually cowards and not able to handle the job.
Not true.
Sometimes cops need to respond as quick as they can, without a siren, to avoid warning the bad guys they are on the way. I hope the officer you saw was responding to that kind of call and not just being careless.
Certain kinds of crime,in progress, require a quick but silent response.
Nope. He pulled into headquarters..Came down the one-way street by Mt. Zion church in the wrong direction, pulled out in front of the car and sped a couple of blocks down the street to the NPD parking lot.
If you know that much, even without the car number, report it. The time each cop logs out at the station is recorded. If yuou know what time, it shouldn't be hard for them to figure out who it was. He or she won't get a firing squad, but somebody needs to have a few words with him or her before there is a bad accident.
Oh yeah report it so the NPD can investigate the NPD..We all know how that will come out..What Norwalk needs is a civilian review board .
Also you say "but somebody needs to have a few words with him or her ". I would say he or she should be fired due to abuse of police power. Also the police need to set the example and be held to a hirer standard...This is something we have not seen in Norwalk for at least 15 years.
How does someone who engaged in a fight with an officer get the same charges as someone who simply told the officer his name?
Something isn't right with the Norwalk PD rank and file. The Chief needs tighten his belt with these guys right now.
Totally unrelated, last night I saw a cop not paying attention pull out in front of a car and almost cause an accident. Not to mention the cop was coming down a one-way street in the wrong direction at the time...No siren either. He was driving too fast for me to get the car number or else I would've reported it.
@Jane
"Something isn't right with the Norwalk PD rank and file. The Chief needs tighten his belt with these guys right now".
This is a major problem and has been for years..This chief is part of the Rilling old boys club and will do nothing the same as Rilling..Moccia had the chance to repair a broken police department with doing a nationwide search for the best candidate. However he was more concerned with the police union endorsement than the taxpayer.