All Charges have been dropped against Christopher Micklovich who was arrested after being beat up by four off-duty Manchester police officers. Micklovich was charged with criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, simple assault and resisting arrest.
As previously reported, three of the officers were suspended after an internal review found that they violated standard operating procedures. Jonathan Duchesne, Michael Buckley and Matt Jajuga were all suspended without pay for an undisclosed period of time. The fourth officers, Lt. Ernie Goodno faces no penalties as he retired from the force shortly after the incident.
Although an internal review found the officers did not act in a criminal manner, the Hillsborough County Attorney, Robert Walsh, has decided to review the matter himself. This has enraged two different police unions, who insist the public should be left in the dark as to what actually happened outside the Strange Brew Tavern on March 3, 2010.
Micklovich claims that he was held down and beaten by the four officers before being taken into custody, and the 26 facial fractures he suffered during the incident show that either the police are incapable of taking a drunk man into custody without severely injuring him, or the off-duty officers acted criminally. Either way, these officers should be off the force forever. Instead, they are simply being suspended, without any details of the internal investigation or the actual duration of the suspensions being disclosed to the public.
It is more than troubling that the police unions want to cover this up. Why would they want bad officers on the force? Any officer worth their salt would want corrupt and bad police officers off the beat, yet the unions don’t even want the district attorney to investigate the incident. If the officers did nothing wrong, why attempt to block the investigation?
Micklovich is planning on suing the city for damages, for good reason. Unfortunately, the officers who should be facing both criminal and civil charges are being protected from any real consequences. Instead, the public will have to pick up the tab of the lawsuit. Meanwhile, the three officers who should likely be wearing prison uniforms, will continue to terrorize the public and hide behind the badge.
