Derby Votes To Settle Police Excessive Force Lawsuit

DERBY – The city’s legislative body voted unanimously March 13 to settle a federal lawsuit brought by a woman who said a police officer used excessive force while arresting her in 2017.

The terms of the settlement, such as how much money the plaintiff is getting, if any, were not available March 13. 

Derby Corporation Counsel Richard Buturla said he will have a settlement document within 10 days (March 27) with information for the public. The federal court database shows the case settled as of Feb. 7, pending approvals from the towns involved.

Linda Mehaylo filed a federal lawsuit in December 2019, claiming that her civil rights were violated by the use of excessive force by a Derby officer and two officers from Shelton. 

The lawsuit stems from a minor traffic accident on Route 34 in east Derby at about 7:40 p.m. Feb. 15, 2017.

Mehaylo rear-ended another vehicle sitting at a traffic light, according to court documents. She was going about 20 mph and said she had taken her eyes off the road for a moment while grabbing a French fry, according to court documents.

The driver of the other vehicle said that immediately after the accident, Mehaylo approached and knocked on her window saying, ​“You’re fine. You’re fine. You can go.”

The driver took a picture of Mehaylo’s license plate. The driver said Mehaylo started yelling at her and eventually drove away as the driver called for police. 

Police quickly tracked the license plate to Mehaylo’s residence on Shelton Avenue in Shelton. Several Shelton police officers, including two named in the federal lawsuit, Manuel Dominguez and Daniel Loris, went to Mehaylo’s residence.

According to an arraignment report and affidavit filed by Loris, police knocked on Mehaylo’s door several times to announce their presence at about 8 p.m. Eventually the officers heard Mehaylo yelling at them through the front door.

“Mehaylo stated that she was involved in a motor vehicle accident in Derby and that she exchanged information with the operator of the other vehicle,” according to the report. ​“Mehaylo’s continuous incoherent yelling went on for several minutes.”

Derby Police Officer Frank DeAngelo, who had been the officer on scene at the earlier fender-bender on Route 34, arrived on scene in Shelton. He said a tow truck was on the way to tow Mehaylo’s vehicle back to Derby.

Mehaylo allegedly began yelling at the police officers from her window, saying ​“it was just a bumper and I gave that girl a hug.”

Police said that Mehaylo opened her front door and stepped outside to yell at police. 

DeAngelo ran toward her, at which point she went back inside her house. She did this twice, according to police. Mehaylo denied this.

DeAngelo grabbed her arm when she exited her residence for a third time, according to the police report. He put her arm behind her back and pushed her up against a wall. Loris grabbed her other arm to subdue her.

“Mehaylo was actively trying to pull away from us and was yelling to us to let her go,” according to the report.

Dominguez helped so that Loris could put handcuffs on her.

Police said Mehaylo announced she would urinate on the officers and wrapped her leg around Dominguez’ leg before urinating on him. She then kicked Loris, according to the report.

The three officers carried Mehaylo into a police car, where she was placed on her stomach.

Excerpts from a deposition with Mehaylo included in court filings show she had a different take on her encounter with police.

She said that she was scared, angry and confused as to why there were so many police at her residence after a minor accident. She said she had agreed to come outside to talk to police and conversed with them from behind a screen door. 

Mehaylo said police opened her screen door, dragged her out, hit her, flipped her upside down, and threw her into a police vehicle where her head struck a center console. 

Police denied this, saying Mehaylo resisted and their arrest was by the book. There is no mention of body or dashcam footage from the 2017 incident.

Mehaylo attributed the urination to having a weak bladder that gave way while she was being accosted.

In March 2022, the three police officers filed motions for summary judgement, arguing that the facts as presented by both sides showed police were not in the wrong. 

The amount of force used was triggered by Mehaylo’s resistance, and was justified to get her under control and to make an arrest, police argued.

Furthermore, the officers’ lawyers argued the police were shielded by qualified immunity, an area of law that makes it tough to win civil lawsuits against government officials.

However, U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden denied the officers’ motion for summary judgement in a 23-page written ruling dated Nov. 18, 2022.

The judge, accepting Mehaylo’s version of events, said that Mehaylo was home alone when she saw flashing lights outside her home and men banging on her residence at various locations, including the front and garage doors. 

The judge said Mehaylo ​“agreed to open the wood front door as long as she could speak to the officers with the screen storm door between them.”

The judge said DeAngelo opened the screen door and grabbed her to detain her.

Bolton noted several factors come into play when judging whether an officer used excessive force, including the severity of the alleged crime. 

The judge noted that police were at Mehaylo’s residence investigating a non-violent misdemeanor involving a person who had no history of violence.

The judge also questioned whether Mehaylo was a threat to police at all, and that she was complying with police, to some extent.

“Here, Ms. Mehaylo told the officers she would open the door, but that they could not come in because she did not fully understand why they were at her house,” the judge wrote. ​“Once Ms. Mehaylo opened the inner wood door, Officer DeAngelo immediately opened the screen storm door and physically pulled Ms. Mehaylo out of her home.”

The judge adds:

“Thus, Officer DeAngelo used force to remove Ms. Mehaylo, even though she was attempting to comply, and therefore, this could be considered excessive.”

The judge denying a motion for summary judgement did not end the case. It could have continued toward trial. 

The lawyers for the officers filed an appeal on the rejection of summary judgement – which they also lost in the U.S. Court of Appeals, according to a written decision dated Feb. 14, 2024.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed Judge Bolden’s denial of summary judgement – and agreed that police were not necessarily protected by qualified immunity at this point in the legal case.

The decision from the court of appeals didn’t automatically end the case, either – but it could have pressured the lawyers representing the three police officers to settle.

The Valley Indy reached out to all lawyers involved on March 13 but did not hear back. The Valley Indy left a message March 19 with the Shelton mayor’s office to find out whether the legislative body there also approved a settlement.