Alan Borowski

Northampton police Lt. Alan Borowski, shown in photo, is a defendant in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against six city officers by Modesto Melendez that alleges police brutalized and arrested him without cause, and charged him with crimes Melendez claims he did not commit

(Republican file photo)

NORTHAMPTON -- The controversial response to a barroom brawl three years ago at the former Tully O'Reilly's Pub continues to bite city police officers, with a civil rights lawsuit that alleges police brutality -- and seeks $500,000 in damages -- recently filed against six of them.

Modesto Melendez, 25, of Holyoke, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Springfield on March 29 claiming his civil rights were violated when police and bouncers at the 1 Pearl St. club allegedly brutalized him. Melendez filed the lawsuit on his own, without a lawyer.

Modesto Melendez

Melendez claims he was falsely arrested and imprisoned, and wrongly charged with crimes. His lawsuit states that, given their extensive police training, officers should have responded differently.

He is suing the following Northampton police officers: Lt. Alan Borowski, who was a sergeant at the time; Sgt. Joseph S. Golec, who was an officer at the time; and officers Thomas A. Briotta and Jeffrey Staples. Also named are Anthony C. Sotolotto and Christopher Dumas, who were officers with the department at the time of the March 31, 2013, incident.

The complaint also names as defendants the bar's owner at the time, Tully McColgan, and two of his employees at the time, Richard Daoust and Brandon Daniel.

When police arrived, in response to a brawl, the men who were fighting were "identified, issued trespass notices and sent on their way," Golec wrote in his report.

They were identified as: "Felix Vasquez, David Lopez, Gabriel Ramon and Gilbert Camancho," Briotta's report states. "They were all engaged in a physical fight inside the bar. The males were uncooperative and were unable to say who hit who, and who started the fight," Briotta wrote. "Staff informed us there was a fifth Hispanic male involved who had fled the area."

The two men arrested and charged with crimes that night were not part of that fracas precipitating the police response.

They were Melendez and Jonas Correia, who according to his lawyers attempted to video the scene outside the bar.

Melendez claims he attempted to leave the tavern as the fight broke out, and was wrongly detained by police and bar staff. Specifically, Melendez alleges the officers and employees pushed him to the ground and punched, kicked and struck him with batons multiple times.

Earlier this year, the city of Northampton agreed to a $52,500 out-of-court settlement with Correia after a video recording of police subduing Correia went viral and was used by his lawyers to call into question the Northampton police version of events.

Correia had been charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, but the district attorney's office eventually opted against prosecution.

An individual standing on the sidewalk recorded a video that Correia's lawyers subsequently used to condemn the actions of the Northampton officers. Attorneys David Hoose and William Newman alleged that the video substantially contradicts information police wrote in their reports about Correia.

Narkewicz issued a statement on Feb. 1 when the Correia settlement was made public.

"I believed then, and I continue to believe, that NPD officers acted professionally and appropriately during this incident," the mayor said. "I have full confidence in the men and women of our police department, and specifically the officers who put themselves in harm's way dealing with unruly patrons at the former Tully O'Reilly's bar in the early hours of March 31, 2013."

Not long after the incident, the city's then-chief of police, Russell Sienkiewicz, said an internal affairs investigation determined officers acted appropriately.

Correia, who was pepper sprayed in the face and eyes by Borowski, and Melendez, were both handcuffed and taken into custody, then booked at the station. Melendez was charged with resisting arrest, disturbing the peace and assault and battery, police records show.

Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan's office said last week that Melendez was arraigned April 1, 2013, with pretrial conferences occurring that year on May 13, June 12 and July 11, when the case was disposed.

The DA's office said the assault and battery and resisting arrest charges resulted in pretrial probation and that "the disorderly was converted to a civil charge for which he got the sentence to apologize."

After Melendez filed his lawsuit, lawyers representing the Northampton officers filed a motion to dismiss April 22, claiming the complaint lacks specificity. They are represented by attorneys Nancy Frankel Pelletier and Jeffrey J. Trapani of the Springfield firm Robinson Donovan PC.

"The body of the pleading does not contain their names," the motion states. "The complaint is also substantively devoid of facts alleging whether a particular officer participated in the alleged event and, if so, what that officer is alleged to have done, when or why."

"The omission" of "sufficient facts as to the alleged conduct of each of the municipal defendants falls well short of the pleading requirements set forth by the Supreme Court -- and deprives them of the notice necessary to defend these claims," the policemen said in their motion to dismiss.

McColgan, Daoust and Daniel also filed a motion to dismiss on April 25, for similar reasons. James M. Manitsas, of the Springfield law firm Murphy & Manitsas LLP, is representing them.

Borowski, who was the commanding officer at the scene, does not identify in his police report the names of officers who were allegedly needed to subdue Melendez.

"Upon entering the bar, I immediately observed several officers struggling with a Hispanic male, who was later identified as Modesto Melendez," Borowski wrote.

"Officers were finally able to gain control of Melendez and he was placed in handcuffs and under arrest," Borowski wrote. It was the first of two arrests Borowski called into dispatch that night.

The dispatch log says, "Sgt. Borowski states there is an arrest" at 1:52 a.m. He called in the second arrest two minutes later.

The log shows Dumas arrived on scene at 1:51 a.m. His report says he played a key role subduing Melendez.

"I delivered two to three knee strikes" and "delivered two to three strikes to Melendez's head with my right fist" but Melendez "continued to resist and be assaultive towards officers," Dumas wrote.

The Sotolotto police report does not refer to Dumas subduing Melendez.

"I immediately proceeded to assist officers Golec and Briotta, and took a position behind Mr. Melendez and assisted in tackling him to the ground. Mr. Melendez continued to fight with us, yelling that God would help him escape," Sotolotto wrote.

Unlike the Correia incident, no video recording showing what happened between Melendez, police and bar staff that night has surfaced.

Police Chief Jody Kasper, who was promoted to lead the department in June, was asked about outfitting the city police force with body cameras at the April 26 community forum, "Do Black Lives Matter in the Valley?" organized by radio station WHMP.

Kasper said the department cannot afford them. "We haven't been pursuing that," she said.

The chief said she was "confident in our current system of assessing how we use force," though she conceded "there are a lot of benefits to body cameras" -- especially when the department must investigate accusations of wrongdoing against an officer.

"Some folks in the department are on board with it, they want them ... and others are not as supportive, so that is another issue," she said. "I like the transparency, I like the accountability."

Newman, director of the Western Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union, who participated in the forum, urged the chief to pursue body camera for her officers.

"Civilian videos have brought justice in many cases," Newman said at the forum.