Brockton cop arrested at Foxwoods accused of assaulting girlfriend
BROCKTON MA Oct 30 2018 — A city police officer who is on leave related to a mid-October arrest at a Connecticut casino is accused of assaulting his girlfriend, The Enterprise has learned.
Jamal A. Johnson, a patrol officer for the Brockton Police Department, was placed on paid administrative leave on Oct. 14 following his arrest by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Police Department.
The circumstances that led to his arrest were unclear when first reported by The Enterprise on Friday, but the newspaper has learned that Johnson is accused of slapping his girlfriend at the Grand Pequot Hotel at Foxwoods on Oct. 13.
Six officers with the tribal police department, which oversees Foxwoods, were sent to the valet area outside the hotel early that morning, about 2:30 a.m., for a domestic dispute. Police found Johnson and the apparent victim, a 24-year-old woman, had been separated by security.
“I spoke with the accused, who identified himself as a Brockton police officer and that he did not know what was happening,” Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Police officer Gustavo A. Salas wrote in an arrest report obtained Monday by The Enterprise. “The accused said the victim was his girlfriend and that they had only shoved each other a little bit. He then said he did not walk to talk any more.”
Another officer went with security guards to review surveillance video of the incident. That officer was informed that two security officers had previously encountered the couple in the stairwell of the hotel garage.
“They observed that the victim was crying and that she had dry wall dust on her dress,” Salas wrote. “The victim stated to the security officers that she was sitting down because she thought the accused was going to throw her down the stairs.”
The security officers escorted the couple out of the garage area and led them to the front of the hotel. They were told to wait near the valet area for a shuttle bus that would take them back to their hotel, while security guards kept the couple under surveillance, the report states.
“Officer (Paul) Bicki reviewed the recording and saw the victim was sitting on a bench and the accused was standing in front of her,” Salas wrote. “Officer Bicki observed the accused walk toward the victim and then open-hand slap her across her face. The slap had enough force that officer Bicki could see the victim’s head snap back and her hair fly up in the air.”
Police say they offered the woman medical attention, but that she refused it. She also refused to give a written statement of the incident and wouldn’t take a victim’s advocacy card, the report states.
Johnson was then arrested and booked at the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Police station on a second-degree breach of peace charge. The second-degree offense includes an assault or striking of another person. If convicted, Johnson could face a jail sentence of up to six months with a fine up to $1,000.
Tribal police later called the Brockton Police Department to inform them of Johnson’s arrest, the report states.
Johnson was later released from the police station on $1,000 bail and arraigned in New London Superior Court on Oct. 15. The same bail remains with the case and he is due back in court in November.
Mayor Bill Carpenter confirmed to The Enterprise on Friday that Johnson was suspended.
“I cannot comment on a personnel matter,” Carpenter said. “I will confirm that officer Johnson is on paid administrative leave.”
The 27-year-old officer has been employed by the Brockton Police Department for just under two years. Johnson is a 2009 graduate of Brockton High School and a 2014 graduate of Stonehill College in Easton, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in criminology.
Johnson graduated from the Mass. State Police Special State Police Officer Academy in 2015. In May of that year, he was sworn-in as a Bridgewater State University Police Department officer. Before that, Johnson was a patrol officer for the Cambridge Health Alliance Public Safety Department.
According to Brockton police logs, Johnson has not worked since Oct. 11, when he was assigned to the day shift, which is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. He responded to 10 calls for service that day.
Johnson is due back in Connecticut court on Nov. 26.
