Bridgeport cop arraigned on latest domestic violence charges

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DERBY - Bridgeport police officer Steven Figueroa, who has a history of domestic violence arrests, was suspended without pay on Monday following his sex assault arrest this past weekend.

Figueroa was already on administrative duty, also known as desk duty, since his arrest earlier this month on several other charges related to the same incident in Shelton.

“Upon learning of the additional warrant for officer Figueroa's arrest days ago, Chief (Armando) Perez immediately placed officer Figueroa on administrative leave without pay,” said Terron Jones, spokesman for Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim.

Saturday’s arrest was the fourth time in two years that Figueroa has been accused of domestic violence.

He is expected to be arrested again, possibly by the end of the week, on a warrant out of the Bridgeport court charging him with violating the conditions of a prior conditional discharge in an unrelated domestic violence case.

Figueroa, 28, was arraigned on the most recent charge — first-degree sexual assault — Monday afternoon in Superior Court. The charge is in addition to the third-degree assault, unlawful restraint, threatening and risk of injury to a child charges he is also facing after his arrest several weeks ago by Shelton police.

Judge Peter McShane ordered Figueroa to have no further contact with the alleged victim and then transferred the case to Superior Court in Milford for a plea hearing on Aug. 6.

Figueroa, who is free after posting a $75,000 bond, declined comment as he left the courthouse.

His lawyer, Christian Young, said his client maintains his innocence. “I would ask members of the public to refrain from jumping to conclusions until all the evidence is presented,” Young said.

On June 29, Figueroa was arrested after police said neighbors reported a disturbance in his Shelton apartment, but police could not make contact with anyone in the residence at that time.

Later that morning, police said a woman told them she was Figueroa’s former girlfriend and Figueroa would not let her leave his apartment after she went there in the early hours to retrieve personal belongings.

A 2-month-old baby was present during the disturbance, according to police.

Police said the woman subsequently told them that she had been raped by Figueroa.

Figueroa has six months left on his conditional discharge following his September 2018 conviction for second-degree breach of peace.

In that case, officers were called to a home on Brooks Street in Bridgeport to check on a dispute. When they got there, they said, they saw Figueroa, who was armed, shoving a woman in the street. Police said the victim told them Figueroa, who had been ordered by a judge to stay away from the woman, had been stalking and harassing her and had called her cellphone 67 times.

When the victim of the Brooks Street incident threatened to call police on Figueroa, she told officers Figueroa responded, “My boys are coming and they ain’t gonna do (expletive) to me,” police said.

Figueroa pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of breach of peace, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to a suspended six-month term followed by a year of conditional discharge. Young confirmed that his client also underwent counseling.

Because the most recent charges include felonies, if Figueroa were convicted, he would lose his job in the Bridgeport Police Department. After his arrest several weeks ago, Perez said he had ordered an independent investigation of the allegations through the Office of Internal Affairs.

If the investigation determines the allegations against Figueroa are true or that he violated police department policies, he could be reprimanded or his position with Bridgeport police terminated. It’s rare, however, for OIA to file its report in these types of cases before the court case has been resolved.

Previously, Figueroa has also been charged by Stratford police with third-degree criminal mischief and disorderly conduct after police said he broke the window of his former girlfriend’s car during a dispute.

Prosecutors later nolled or dropped that case after the woman said she didn’t want to pursue it.