Newtown Police Not Liable for Shooting of Danbury Hospital Nurse

Editor’s note: We published this story earlier in the week, but here it is again in case you missed it.

A judge has ruled that the Newtown Police Department is not liable for the shooting of a Danbury Hospital nurse, reports the Connecticut Law Tribune.

On March 1, 2010, Stanley Lupienski, 85, came to the Newtown Police Department and told officers he was hearing voices and was short of breath. The police called an ambulance and transported the Brookfield man to Danbury Hospital for care.

The next day, the man pointed a gun, that he had apparently had on him when he was transported, at two nurses. Nurse Andrew Hull rushed to the scene to help his co-workers and wrestled with Lupienski, trying to pry the gun from his hands. Lupienski fired three rounds into Hull, severely wounding him.

Hull has had multiple surgeries because of the injuries he suffered, and still has one of the bullets lodged in his sternum. He and his wife filed a lawsuit against Newtown alleging that the town’s police officers were responsible for the hospital incident because they did not search Lupienski before transporting him.

However, Danbury Superior Court Judge Sheila Ozalis, ruling on Newtown’s motion for summary judgment, found on May 22 that the town was not responsible for the shooting because officers had not formally placed Lupienski under arrest and therefore were not required by department policy to search him for any weapons. Hull filed a motion to reargue and reconsider the case on May 29, which Ozalis denied on June 19.

Newtown argued that the officer’s decision to take Lupienksi into custody was discretionary in nature and didn’t constitute an arrest; Lupienski was never charged with any crime. The court agreed that Lupienski was not arrested under police policies and procedures.

Ozalis ruled that the officers used their discretion in applying Connecticut General Statute §17a-503, which provides guidance for officers detaining and transporting someone who appears to have a psychiatric disability.

Attorney David Rosen, who represents Hull, said he plans to appeal. The issue for the Appellate Court will likely be what constitutes an arrest.

For more, visit the Connecticut Law Tribune.