DERBY – A man who was stabbed on school grounds after a high school basketball game is suing the city and the school district.
Melvin Mujica-Cruz alleges the city and school district are at fault for not providing adequate safety measures after a Derby High School basketball game on Feb. 14, 2022.
However, the city and the school district filed a motion for summary judgement, saying the lawsuit can’t proceed because Derby officials are protected by governmental immunity.
A hearing on the motion is scheduled for 10 a.m. Jan. 27, 2025.
Mujica-Cruz’ lawsuit has been pending in civil court since February 2023.
According to court documents, Mujica-Cruz left the Derby basketball game at about 9 p.m. and drove to his mother’s house a few minutes away.
Meanwhile, his mother, his sister, and his little brother (a Derby High School basketball player) along with a second Derby player were together on campus. They were approached by two people armed with knives in the parking lot, according to court documents.
The assailants were threatening the two Derby players, according to the plaintiff’s court documents.
Mujica-Cruz’ sister called him and told him what was happening.
Mujica-Cruz drove back to the campus to protect his family, according to his lawsuit. He was stabbed at least twice, in the chest and shoulder.
Mujica-Cruz said someone else from the campus called police to report the attack.
Police said at the time they learned about the stabbing after Mujica-Cruz went to the Griffin Hospital emergency room for treatment. Police described the initial altercation as being between juveniles and that Mujica-Cruz tried to break it up.
No arrests were reported.
Mujica-Cruz’ lawsuit states Derby was playing Ansonia High School and that police were at previous Ansonia-Derby games due to the rivalry between the schools.
However, police said at the time that the game was between Derby High School and Emmett O’Brien Technical High School, a high school in Ansonia. The CIASC website from 2021 – 2022 also shows Derby played EOB on that date, and notes EOB won by a score of 56 – 33.
The lawsuit states that Derby schools and the city are at fault by not having security, or police, or cameras, or other personnel on hand to ensure the safety of the people leaving the game.
The lawsuit argues that Derby schools had policies in place to ensure safety, but did nothing on that night. The lawsuit seeks at least $15,000, the standard amount for civil suits in Connecticut, but any award would be up to a jury.
Whether a jury will hear the case remains to be seen.
Derby is invoking governmental immunity, a complicated and sometimes controversial law that sharply limits liability for public entities such as municipalities, police departments, and school districts.
Derby’s motion for summary judgement doesn’t necessarily address the allegations in the lawsuit, but points to governmental immunity as the reason the lawsuit can’t move forward.
Mujica-Cruz’ lawyer argues there are exemptions to governmental immunity, and that this case fits the exemptions.
Derby argues in an opposing brief that it does not meet the exemptions.
A decision on the immunity debate could happen at the hearing scheduled for Jan. 27. That hearing is scheduled to be held remotely using video conferencing software.
The City of Derby faced a similar civil lawsuit in 2020.
A woman who had been sexually assaulted on the Derby Greenway alleged that the city knew it had a crime problem yet did nothing to make the walkway along the Naugatuck River safe.
The lawsuit further alleged there was evidence of crime in the spot where the woman was attacked, such as graffiti spray-painted on a wall and other acts of vandalism. Derby had essentially created a public nuisance, according to the lawsuit.
The city argued that governmental immunity and state law regarding recreational spaces shielded the government from liability.
After the court said that there wasn’t a direct connection between the city’s actions and the crime, the lawsuit was withdrawn, according to the Connecticut judicial website.
