MERIDEN — Family and close friends of Angel Cajigas are still
struggling to make sense of the circumstances surrounding his death after a
violent confrontation with Meriden police.
Officers shot Cajigas twice during the early morning hours of
April 21. Police say he threatened the officers and attempted to attack them
with a pair of scissors in the 10 Maple Branch rooming house where he lived.
State police are investigating the incident, and have released only a brief
description of the circumstances that led to his death.
The details that have been released, however, don’t all add up for
members of his family and roommates who were with him during his final hours.
“We’re having a big difficulty. We’re not getting answers,” said
Cajigas’ niece, Yadira Gonzalez, who spoke to the Record-Journal from Puerto Rico,
where her family, including Cajigas’ 25-year-old daughter Destiny, gathered
recently to make funeral arrangements.
“Obviously we’re very upset, because this isn’t right. It’s unfair
that a man has to be killed.”
According to police, Cajigas was creating a “violent disturbance”
at around 2:30 a.m. when officers were called to the scene. Neighbors reported
that he was behaving erratically, clutching rosary beads and preaching about
religion outside the house.
By the time police arrived, Cajigas had moved back inside to the
second floor of the rooming house where he lived with several other men, and
then fled to an attic space on the third floor when officers entered the
building. Cajigas became verbally threatening, police said, and eventually
charged at officers with the scissors.
As police retreated, one deployed his Taser to help subdue
Cajigas, although it failed to halt his advance and he continued to attack.
Police say officers were then forced to use their firearms. Cajigas received
medical treatment on scene before being taken to MidState Medical Center, where
he died.
Officers Robert Gasparri and Kenneth Egan have been placed on
administrative duty until the incident can be fully investigated, in accordance
with department policy. Both state and Meriden police declined to provide any
further details of the incident, citing the ongoing investigation.
Cajigas, who has been identified by police as Raul Rosado (a name
family members say he used as an alias), had other brushes with local law
enforcement.
Previous incidents
In 2007, he was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment,
criminal mischief and breach of peace after an incident at his Crown Street
apartment. He was on probation at the time, and was sentenced to four months in
jail later that year.
In November, police were called to the Maple Branch house, where
they found him having an episode not unlike the one that led to his death.
According to police reports, officers Eric Toogood and Donald
Huston were called there for a disturbance and found him screaming, throwing
himself against the wall and falling on the floor. Cajigas appeared to be under
the influence of drugs, and an ambulance was called to take him to MidState,
where he was given a sedative to calm him down.
He was treated and released, and was arrested in late January for
possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug
paraphernalia, all of which were found at his home during the November
incident.
Gonzalez and other family members said that Cajigas had struggled
with drug addiction and mental health issues for most of his life, but had
recently begun seeing a doctor at the downtown Community Health Center to help
him manage his episodes. He had begun performing odd jobs for extra money, and
was looking forward to being cleared by doctors to move out of the rooming
house and live on his own.
“He was going to his appointments, taking medication. He was
really improving,” his sister, Iris Cajigas, said through an interpreter.
Gonzalez said the description of Angel’s behavior on the night he
was killed was similar to what he had displayed in the past.
“He was having a crisis moment — the same crisis moment that he
had in (November). That time, they just took him to MidState,” said Gonzalez.
Reports on the November incident, however, make no mention of any
threats or violent acts toward officers.
“Screaming for God”
Nevertheless, Gonzalez said she believes officers should have been
familiar with her uncle’s mental health issues and handled the situation
accordingly. She believes police pursued him aggressively when he fled to the
third floor of the house.
Carlos Rodriguez and Angel Torres, two of Cajigas’ roommates who
were home during the shooting, also take issue with some of the police accounts
of the incident (Meriden and state police could not confirm specific details of
the incident due to the active investigation).
Both said that Cajigas seemed disturbed and was “screaming for
God” before police arrived. However, they say a total of five officers — three
male and two female — were in the room with him when the shots were fired.
“With five police there, why did they have to shoot him?”
Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez and Torres say that after the shots were fired, officers
ordered the three other tenants not to approach the third floor before rounding
them up in a common area on the second floor. The door to Cajigas’ room had
been torn from the hinges, they said.
“One lady police shouted at me to stay in my room. Her hands were
shaking on her gun,” said Rodriguez.
After several hours, the residents were taken to a state police
office on North Colony Street, where they spoke with detectives. It was nearly
noon by the time they were released.
Cajigas’ roommates, landlord and neighbors all described him as a
quiet, non-threatening man, although most knew little about him. Rodriguez and
Torres said he spent much of his free time carving small boats out of wood. He
used the pair of scissors found at the scene to cut cardboard and cloth to make
sails for the boats.
“He was an incredibly warm, wonderful person,” Iris Cajigas said
through an interpreter. “He was always helping people.”
“We have rights”
The use of force by Meriden police has been under scrutiny over
the past year as the FBI and state police continue to investigate allegations
that the department has failed to adequately discipline certain officers
accused of brutality. Federal authorities have subpoenaed records, including
those related to all use of department-issued Tasers dating back to 2007.
Cajigas’ family said they believe police should have been aware of
his mental health issues, and that the events that led to his death could have
been defused with proper training.
“He had a mental disability, and the cops were aware of that,”
said Iris Cajigas. “Before, they called the crisis line for him. Instead of
doing that, they decided to shoot him.”
State police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said that all potential
troopers and officers receive training on dealing with intoxicated and mentally
ill suspects at the State Police Academy, on Preston Avenue, and new in-service
training sessions have recently been added.
“We’ve had input from mental health professionals that provided us
with information and education as to how to deal with despondent people and the
like. It’s a refresher from the basic training that all troopers get,” he said.
“It’s something we take very seriously.”
Eugene O’Donnell, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal
Justice in New York City, said that dealings with the mentally ill and
intoxicated can be among the most difficult and combustible encounters an
officer can face. Officers generally attempt to learn whether a suspect has a
history of mental health issues before engaging with him or her, but the
combination of an unstable person and armed police can often be a “recipe for
tragedy.”
“Cops in many ways are the worst people to deal with mental
health, because they come with a force orientation, they come with weapons,” he
said. “To know or to ask when you respond whether they have a history, that can
make all the difference. It’s probably the biggest issue police face that
doesn’t get the attention it deserves.”
As they wait for answers about the events that led to Angel
Cajigas’ death, his relatives are doing their best to honor his memory, producing
T-shirts with his picture that read, “Siempre estaras en nuestros corazones” —
Spanish for “You will always be in our hearts.”
Gonzalez also said the family plans to visit with lawyers to
explore the possibility of a lawsuit against the city.
“We are going forward with this, because it’s not only my uncle,
it’s everyone else in the city. The sad part is that they’re taking the law
into their own hands,” she said. “We have rights, and they’re violating our
rights. I’m so angry, I can’t even sleep.”
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