April 28, 2021- 6:10 p.m.
HARTFORD — A city police sergeant faces a misdemeanor assault charge after punching a woman in the face after she was arrested and spit on him. The incident involving Sgt. James Guzie, who is on administrative leave, was referred to Hartford State’s Attorney Sharmese Walcott for review after Guzie reported using force on an woman being arrested in connection with a domestic incident, Police Chief Jason Thody said.
Guzie turned himself in Sunday, and Walcott announced that he was charged with third-degree assault. The closure of the internal investigation was announced late Sunday. “The officer should never have reacted the way he did and it’s simply unacceptable,” Thody said in a statement.
“We review every use of force, and our review process led us to the conclusion that his conduct could be a violation of law and policy. We had not received a complaint, and we proactively referred this incident to the State’s Attorney.”
Thody said the department worked with the state’s attorney on the investigation, while the department also conducted a professional and impartial review of the interaction between Guzie and the woman arrested. “While this incident should not have happened, it is evidence that our use of force review process is thorough and effective and that we take accountability seriously,” Thody said. Felicia Jenkins, 44, who was charged with second-degree breach of peace and first-degree criminal trespass.
Jenkins was taken into custody on the night of March 15 after police responded to a call from a person claiming a woman who hadn’t lived at her house since last year showed up and was trying to be let inside, according to police reports. Prior to her being brought to booking, and throughout her time in booking, Jenkins was allegedly slurring her words and taunting officers.
Reports show officers believed she was intoxicated at the time. During the confrontation, Jenkins spits in the direction of Guzie. Guzie’s reacts immediately, lunging at Jenkins. It’s at that time he allegedly punched her in the face with a closed fist, the internal affairs investigation revealed. In his incident report, Guzie said Jenkins was “highly intoxicated and agitated.” Guzie also said in his report that Jenkins “spit right in my face.” He admitted to hitting Jenkins with a closed fist in the report, claiming he feared he was “about to be attacked” by her.
“I delivered one strike to Jenkins’ left side of her face on the jaw line,” Guzie’s report said “This strike was delivered quick to cause a stunning affect to Jenkins to end her assaultive behavior.” He said Jenkins dropped to the floor. His incident report indicated Guzie also charged Jenkins with assault on a peace officer.
A use of force report indicates that a lieutenant, deputy chief, assistant chief and the chief reviewed the reports and body camera footage. Each of them suggested Guzie’s use of force be further investigated by internal affairs.
