West Haven officer arrested, accused of using excessive force

A West Haven police officer is on administrative leave and is facing charges after an incident during an arrest in July.

The incident involved Officer Richard Naccarato, and was reported to the police chief by another officer who was at the scene.

“Officers on scene reported to their superiors that the arresting officer may have used out-of-policy force,” Chief Joseph Perno said on Wednesday.

A panel was convened at the West Haven Police Department to review body camera footage from the incident.

The chief placed Naccarato on administrative leave on July 4 pending an internal affairs investigation. He also reported the incident to court officials, who asked state police to investigate.

According to an arrest affidavit for Naccarato, he was one of two officers who responded to JR’s Bar & Grill on Campbell Avenue around 11 p.m. on July 1 for the report of an unwanted person at that location.

When the officers arrived, they found a man sitting on the sidewalk in front of the bar eating food. A bouncer at the bar asked the man to move, but he refused.

When the officers asked the man to move, he told them he wasn’t breaking any laws and he wasn’t going to move.

When Officer Naccarato asked the man to put his hands behind his back as he was attempting to arrest him, the man jumped up and punched Naccarato on the left side of his face, according to the affidavit.

Naccarato and the other officer then took the man to the ground and attempted to handcuff him, but the man resisted.

According to the affidavit, Naccarato can be seen on video punching the man in the head a total of 18 times. At one point, the second officer yelled “no, no, no,” in an effort to intervene.

The man was eventually subdued and arrested.

During the state police investigation, Naccarato told investigators the man was trying to gouge his eye. Photos of Naccarato after the incident show injuries near his eye, according to the warrant.

After completing their investigation, state police determined there was probable cause to charge Naccarato with second-degree assault. He was arrested on Oct. 24.

Chief Perno said paperwork has been sent to the the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council recommending that Naccarato be decertified as an officer. Naccarato has been with the department since June 2021.