City Reinstates Suspended Cop After 17 Months By ETHAN ROUEN New London -A city patrolman who has been arrested six times on domestic-abuse charges rejoined the police department this month when he was reinstated following a 17-month suspension. The suspension ended following the dismissal of the most recent lawsuit against Genaro Velez Jr. and the expiration of a restraining order against him. Velez, who has been on the force for almost 23 years, had been suspended without pay since February 2004 when his wife at the time, Luz Ramirez, was granted a restraining order against him that forbade him to carry a firearm. He was charged with second-degree threatening soon after the order was filed. The city suspended Velez because of the arrest and his inability to perform his duties without carrying a weapon. Ramirez alleged that her husband had beaten and sexually assaulted her. When she left their Oakdale house to move in with her sister in Milford, she said Velez made threatening phone calls and said he would “empty my clip” of bullets from his police-issued Glock 9 mm into her and any family member that stood in his way. In July 2004, Ramirez's attorney made a motion to extend the restraining order but never pursued the motion, a clerk in Milford Superior Court said. Her attorney, Richard J. Novak, said the criminal case against Velez was dismissed June 29 because Velez entered an eight-week domestic-violence counseling program and his client refused to cooperate with prosecutors. “Luz Velez wanted to move on with her life,” Novak said. “She got her divorce and moved on with her life.” He said she is currently living “in places undisclosed.” Velez filed for divorce during his criminal trial, and a New Haven judge granted his request in April. “You can't stay married to someone like this who tries to take your life away,” Velez said in a telephone interview this week. “This woman knew the problems I went through before. I was honest and truthful, and she used that on her behalf.” This trial was not the first one in which Velez escaped unscathed because a plaintiff refused to cooperate. Ramirez filed a temporary restraining order against him while the couple was dating in 2003. She said Velez had beaten her and threatened to kill her. A judge did not renew the restraining order two weeks after it was put in place because Ramirez did not show up at the hearing. She later said Velez threatened to harm her if she attended, a claim Velez denies. Velez was suspended from the force while the order was in effect. Eight months later, the couple married. Velez, who has three children with two women, has been arrested five other times for charges stemming from domestic-abuse complaints. Charges were eventually dropped in all the cases. He has also had six restraining orders filed against him by four women. Velez's personnel records show that he has been the target of eight internal police probes, four supervisor complaints and 15 civilian complaints concerning his behavior with women, his police work, and his dealings with the public. The accusations range from making offensive slurs toward Italian-Americans to wrongfully arresting the ex-husband of a woman he was dating. Three of the civilian complaints were substantiated, and he has been reprimanded by letter in three of the internal investigations. Police Chief Bruce Rinehart said the department is again investigating Velez in relation to the charges lodged against him by Ramirez. Rinehart would not comment on the investigation and why it is still being conducted after the charges have been dropped, but he said disciplinary action can still be taken. Police said they would not release documents relating to an active investigation. On Thursday, The Day filed a Freedom of Information request seeking all files related to the investigation. A case pending before the state Department of Labor will decide whether the city will have to reimburse Velez for the 17 months during which he was suspended without pay. Velez said the dismissal should absolve him of all wrongdoing, and he plans to file civil lawsuits against his ex-wife's family and the Milford Police Department, the department that arrested him last year. “If there's any doubt, if there's anydoubt, I would have been convicted, but this was all a bunch of lies,” he said. “Everything will come out in the civil lawsuit that I'm going to file.” © The Day Publishing Co., 2005 |