The Seymour man accused of assaulting two police officers on Feb. 11 was arrested Friday for a third assault on an officer.
Michael Fenyes, 40, allegedly hit a police officer on the head with a frying pan Friday morning as the officer tried to serve an arrest warrant for the first assault.
Fenyes was charged Friday with interfering with a police officer and assault on a police officer, according to Lt. Paul Satkowski.
Fenyes was also charged with two additional counts of assaulting a police officer and third-degree assault on a victim over 60 years old, for the Feb. 11 fight at his apartment, Satkowski said.
On Feb. 11, Seymour police officer Meredith Shook arrived at Fenyes’ apartment to help a worker from Birmingham Group on a response. Fenyes got into a fight with Shook and the worker, police said. When a second officer arrived, Fenyes also fought with him, police said.
After the incident, the officers had Fenyes brought to the hospital for a mental evaluation, so he wasn’t arrested at the scene, Satkowski said. Instead, the department applied for, and received, an arrest warrant to charge him for the incident.
Fenyes was arraigned at Superior Court in Derby on Monday for both incidents, after spending the weekend in jail. He remains in custody on a $45,000 bond, and was ordered to get psychiatric attention. Fenyes is scheduled to appear in court again on March 22.
The police officer hit with the frying pan, who was not identified, was taken to Bridgeport Hospital, where he was treated and released. The officer has since returned to work, Satkowski said.
The two officers assaulted at the home on Feb. 11 have both returned to work as well, Satkowski said. They received “minor” injuries during the fight, Satkowski said.
Two Assaults
The Feb. 11 incident prompted a scathing letter from the Seymour Police Union, which said the police officer was unable to call for help because of radio communication problems along Route 34. Click here to read an article about the union’s concerns.
Satkowski Friday said the department is still investigating the claims made in the police union letter.
An arrest warrant for Fenyes — written by Shook — doesn’t mention radio problems at the scene. But it does indicate that Shook communicated to the police department through Fenyes’ cell phone to call for help.
According to the warrant, Fenyes attacked Shook after she and two Birmingham workers called for an ambulance to take him away for a mental evaluation.
Fenyes called the Seymour Police Department on his cell phone, and then “instantly lunged” on Shook, causing her to lose balance and fall backwards, the warrant states.
Fenyes was on top of Shook, fighting with her, while still on the cell phone. At that point, Shook yelled to the officer on dispatch that she needed help, the warrant states.
Shook sprayed Fenyes with pepper spray, which “only seemed to infuriate Michael Fenyes even more,” making him :more combative,” Shook wrote.
The social worker from Birmingham tried to get Fenyes off Shook, and was also assaulted by him in the process, the warrant says.
Fenyes was able to push Shook and the social worker out of the home, and lock the door.
At that point, Officer Thomas Scharf arrived on scene. Fenyes wouldn’t open the door for Scharf, and officers feared he might harm another person in the apartment at the time, the warrant states.
So they forced their way back into the apartment, where Fenyes “started punching and kicking” Scharf, the warrant says.
The officers subdued Fenyes and sent him to Griffin Hospital for evaluation.
The social worker at the scene was cut on the left side of his face. Scharf received a black eye and heavy bruising on his face, the warrant said. And Shook was bruised on the entire right side of her body, and had a sprained trapezoid muscle.
