Fall River police sued again: Man says he was hurt when cops barged into wrong apartment
FALL RIVER — Another city resident has filed a lawsuit alleging excessive use of force and civil rights violations against the Fall River Police Department, this time after officers allegedly entered the wrong apartment and injured a man when responding to a call regarding a suspect with a gun on Division Street in January 2020.
Lawyers for Lawrence Galego, a local construction worker, filed the civil lawsuit in federal court in Boston on Dec. 31 against more than a dozen defendants, including former Fall River Police Chief Albert Dupere, eight of the responding police officers and four dispatchers involved in the call to the alleged victim’s apartment, on the third floor of 464 Division St.
Galego's attorney, Kenneth Mello, claims Galego was immediately taken down to the floor and brutally assaulted after opening the door to police at 1:30 a.m.
“He believes he could have been hit in the face with a gun, but it could have been a fist. But literally as he opened the door, he was struck in the face very hard and people came crashing into the door on top of him,” said Mello.
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According to Mello, police responded to the call that a couple was being held hostage by a friend at gunpoint; the location given to dispatchers was the rear first-floor apartment in the building.
The three-story tenement contains six units.
Mello said after police responded to several apartments in the building on the first and second floors, they came upon Galego’s, where the police continued their investigation.
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Mello said after officers searched the apartment, they realized it was not the source of the complaint.
Galego was never arrested, and later called for rescue.
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“They came back and said, ‘Sorry, we’ve got the wrong party,’ and they left,” said Mello. “He was in a lot of emotional pain and physical pain and called the ambulance."
Mello suggested that the call that led to the search and Galego's assault may have been a “swatting” call to police, meaning a false report, but has not been able to confirm it.
City Corporation Counsel Alan Rumsey said they are aware of Galego’s complaint, but have not yet reviewed it and declined to comment at this time on the pending lawsuit.
Galego's lawsuit is the latest of a string of lawsuits against the FRPD in recent years. In the last seven months alone, the city, which is self-insured, has paid out $460,000 in lawsuits to three other plaintiffs alleging similar bad acts by the FRPD.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River police sued again in alleged case of mistaken identity
