School resource officer caught on video punching motorist in face; later he seems to deny it — but other cops bring receipts



An off-duty Connecticut middle school resource officer was caught on video punching a motorist in the face late last year, WTIC-TV reported.

Thing is, when fellow police officers confronted Allen Ganter about the incident, their bodycam video shows him appearing to play dumb about the punch.

Then the officers told him it was caught on camera, the station reported.

What are the details?

WTIC said a tip came in about the Dec. 8 incident, and the station obtained video of it after filing a Freedom of Information request.

Thomas Brocuglio, 37, was driving his company vehicle with the dash camera recording when he approached a Toyota Tacoma ahead of him at a red light at the intersection of France Street and Cromwell Avenue in Rocky Hill, WTIC said.

“What are we doing?” Brocuglio asked, honking his horn, expecting the Tacoma driver to make a right turn.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

“Wait all f**kin' day!” Brocuglio yelled, according to his dashcam. The station said Brocuglio soon gave the finger to the driver of the truck.

Then Ganter — a 57-year-old corporal with the Meriden police force who was off-duty at the time — exited the Tacoma and approached Brocuglio's vehicle while flashing his badge.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Ganter — who has more than 20 years of law enforcement experience, the station said — was about to make his first head-scratching mistake.

“You can’t take a right on red, you a**hole,” Ganter told Brocuglio, according to WTIC.

Problem for Ganter was that the sign doesn't communicate that — and Brocuglio picked up on Ganter's gaffe right away.

“Really? Where does it say that? It says 'stop here on red,'” Brocuglio replied. Motorists can turn right on red when a sign says stop here on red.

Ganter soon was taking photos of Brocuglio’s license plates; Brocuglio accused Ganter of being on his phone; and Ganter then threatened to ticket Broculglio and call his supervisor, WTIC reported.

“Sure. Sounds good,” Brocuglio replied. “Let me get your badge number.”

Instead, Brocuglio got a knuckle sandwich. The station said Ganter punched Brocuglio in the face. That was the cop's second mistake.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

The station said Ganter cursed at Brocuglio and asked him, "Who do you think you are ...? Do you want to get arrested?”

A shocked-looking Brocuglio answered, “You are going to get arrested for assaulting a civilian.”

The tables turn

WTIC said Ganter drove off, and Brocuglio called 911, telling the dispatcher, “I was just assaulted by a police officer. He punched me in the face through my window."

Rocky Hill Police responded and generated an incident report saying the punch left Brocuglio “dazed and possibly concussed," the station said.

What's more, Rocky Hill Police bodycam video shows them confronting Ganter at his residence, WTIC reported.

“Is he pressing charges against me like for breach because I yelled at him and stuff?” Ganter asked one Rocky Hill officer.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

“For assault because you hit him,” the Rocky Hill officer answered.

“He’s saying that I hit him?” Ganter replied.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Let's just call that mistake number three.

“Yeah," the Rocky Hill officer answered. "And he has video that you hit him."

Amazingly, Ganter asked the Rocky Hill officers if he could charge Broculgio: “There's nothing where I can press for breach for him yelling at me, whatever it is?”

Charged

Ganter — a school resource officer for Thomas Edison Middle School in Meriden — was charged with breach of peace and third-degree assault, WTIC said.

Internal affairs found Ganter violated the department's conduct rules, was suspended without pay for five days, and was required to attend de-escalation training for three consecutive years, the station 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," the department added in its statement to WTIC.

Video appears to show Meriden officer punch person in the face during road rage incident youtu.be

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Off-duty firefighter wrestles felon who pulled gun on him. Felon's girlfriend grabs dropped gun, fatally shoots firefighter — and she's facing no criminal charges.



Warning: graphic content.

An off-duty firefighter in Missouri was shot and killed outside a gas station earlier this month after wrestling with an angry customer who eventually pulled a gun on him. However, prosecutors have declined to charge the customer's girlfriend, who shot the firefighter, claiming that she shot him to defend her boyfriend's life.

At around 2:30 p.m. on October 6, Anthony "Tony" Santi, a 41-year-old Kansas City firefighter, was in a gas station in Independence, Missouri, when a fellow customer became irate with the female attendant because the store did not have the brand of cigars he wanted.

The customer, Ja’Von Taylor, 23, then hurled expletives at the unnamed store clerk, causing a disturbance. The clerk asked Taylor to leave the store, but he refused. Santi then intervened and demanded that Taylor leave. Tensions between the two men became heated, and they began fighting inside the store, though they eventually took the scuffle outside.

At some point, Taylor went to his vehicle and took out a firearm. Taylor and Santi then struggled to grab hold of the weapon. Santi eventually managed to get Taylor into a choke hold underneath him. Meanwhile, Taylor's girlfriend, who had been sitting in Taylor's vehicle, had exited the car and begged Santi to stop wrestling with Taylor.

"Stop, sir, stop," she yelled. "Get off! My kids [are] in the car! Stop! [You’re] killing him!"

The woman, whose identity has not been released, picked up the gun, which had fallen to the ground, and then aimed it at Santi. She warned him that she would use it, and she eventually did, firing one round into Santi's back.

A witness filmed the episode, which may have lasted for as long as 10 minutes. Though the video does not show the actual shooting, the content in it is graphic.

\u201cGraphic Content \ud83d\udea8\u26a0\ufe0f\n\nA Kansas City woman has been set free of charges tonight after protecting her boyfriend in a fight with a firefighter. The young lady seconds later killed the firefighter which has now been declared as self defense. \u26a0\ufe0f\u201d
— KC Discover (@KC Discover) 1666144853

The woman shot Santi moments after the conclusion of the video. After the shot, Santi got up off the ground and walked back into the store, where he collapsed and died.

After reviewing the video, Jackson County prosecutors declined to press charges against the woman, arguing that she could reasonably claim self-defense.

"We grieve with the family and community over this tragic loss of life of Mr. Santi," the prosecutor’s office wrote in a statement. "Missouri law governs this case, specifically self-defense and defense of others, leading us to decline charges after a careful review."

"If a case is declined, it’s just because we don’t believe there’s sufficient evidence to get to that highest burden of proof," Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker explained to reporters.

Kevin Jamison, a Missouri attorney who has practiced law for 40 years and who "wrote Missouri’s book on weapons and self-defense," according to WDAF-TV, also weighed in on why prosecutors may have declined to press charges in this case.

"Technically it's called the defense of justification and your justification is you are saving the life of another person," Jamison said.

He added that the woman likely had only limited knowledge about the "circumstances" of the fight, causing her to believe that Santi posed a threat to Taylor's life.

"The girlfriend is only constrained by what she reasonably believed to be the circumstances. If she didn’t see the start of the fight, all she knows is her boyfriend is getting strangled," he said.

Though the unnamed girlfriend will not face prosecution, Taylor will. He has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He had previously been convicted of first-degree robbery, though the date of his conviction and the length of his sentence remain unclear.

Santi joined the Kansas City Fire Department 11 years ago. He loved "nature and being outdoors" and his dog, Donnie, and he especially loved his daughter, "the light of his life," according to an obituary.

KCFD declined to comment on the decision not to prosecute the woman.

Gun-toting crook carjacks Philly cop; off-duty officer shoots 7 times as SUV speeds away. Later, cop's vehicle found on fire; shot 15-year-old reportedly is suspect.



After an off-duty Philadelphia police officer was carjacked at gunpoint early Friday morning, the officer shot seven times at his SUV as it sped away. Hours later his SUV was found on fire — and a 15-year-old who was dropped off at a hospital with a gunshot wound to the hand is being held as a suspect.

What are the details?

The officer was coming home after his shift and wasn't in uniform, WTXF-TV's Steve Keeley said during the station's report.

The officer said he was parking his Silver 2020 Toyota Highlander around 12:15 a.m. when a suspect with a gun stopped him, reached into the officer's pockets to grab his keys, then stole his vehicle, WXTF reported, citing Chief Inspector Scott Small.

Keeley said the suspect was dressed in a hoodie and was armed with a Glock handgun.

As the suspect made off with the cop's car, the officer fired seven times, hitting the driver’s side of the vehicle, KYW-TV reported, adding that it isn't known whether the carjacker was hit.

The suspect then crashed the officer's car into unattended parked cars near the intersection of 56th and Pentridge Streets in the southwest part of the city and then continued north on 56th Street, WTXF said, citing police.

\u201cSeconds after wounded carjacker tried to speed away in \u2066@PhillyPolice\u2069 Off-Duty officer\u2019s Toyota Highlander, @phillypolice sources tell FOX29 News he crashed into these 3 vehicles on corner officer\u2019s block on Pentridge Street. Driving with hand shot. \u2066@FOX29philly\u2069\u201d
— Steve Keeley (@Steve Keeley) 1655465819

Hours later, a vehicle was found burning in west Philadelphia, and it was identified as the officer's car, WTXF reported.

Suspect allegedly found

WTXF added that sources told Keeley that a 15-year-old who was dropped off at a hospital with a gunshot wound to the hand after the carjacking is being held as a suspect.