Landmark civil verdict exposes police corruption in Connecticut

A civil jury in federal court concluded that a Bloomfield, CT. cop went way over the line.

K9 Officer from the Bloomfield, Ct Police Department, Brendan Danaher

A jury of eight men in Federal District in Connecticut determined that a false arrest in 2017 was one of the worst cases of police corruption in American history.

A jury awarded Lauren Haidon $1.5 million for the actions of Bloomfield, Connecticut K9 Officer Brendan Danaher in 2017.

I first exclusively wrote about Haidon’s lawsuit in August 2023, but a trial had not yet taken place.

That trial recently concluded, and the jury returned what may turn into a landmark ruling for Haidon.

The facts of this case have been determined, but what the world may never know is why Danaher did what he did.

Why would Danaher decide to throw out all semblance of police procedure, common decency, to force an arrest which had no merit?

It all started in January 2017, when Haidon’s ex-husband, Matthew Couloute, approached the Bloomfield, Ct. police department and filed a complaint claiming she had run off to New York without permission with their daughter in violation of their court order.

Matthew Couloute

Couloute, who did not respond to an email for comment, was making it up, and the evidence presented at trial showed that Danaher received evidence that none of this was the case.

Danaher, the evidence showed, conducted a cursory investigation which lasted ninety minutes.

He spoke with Lauren once for less than ten minutes.

During that conversation, Lauren provided him with what should have been the key piece of evidence.

Lauren Haidon from her Facebook page

She provided Danaher an email from October 14, 2016, in which Couloute stated to her, “You’re going to Buffalo, go.”

This is very important because Couloute presented to Danaher that she had left Connecticut without permission or warning.

In fact, Lauren Haidon left Connecticut for her parent’s home because she had no choice.

It also came out at trial that Couloute had also left Connecticut for Georgia, and he was living there when he filed this complaint.

He stopped paying child support, leaving Haidon with no choice but seek refuge, temporarily, with her parents.

Couloute also failed to mention that there was a no contact order against him in New York state after social services substantiated sexual abuse claims against him.

I spoke with Lauren’s attorney, Anthony Rupp, from the law firm Rupp & Pflager, and he said that he had to overcome two very substantial obstacles to win this case.

First, as a cop, Danaher enjoyed qualified immunity from civil lawsuits. I have spoken at length about the US Supreme Court case Stump V Sparkman, which granted judges near total immunity from civil lawsuits.

Cops don’t enjoy quite as much immunity from civil lawsuits, but they still enjoy broad immunity from a civil lawsuit.

Second, because Danaher got a warrant, it is presumed, Rupp told me, that he had probable cause.

To win the case despite these two obstacles shows just how egregious what Danaher did next was.

After this ninety-minute investigation, he went to a judge with an application for an arrest warrant which did not include the October 2016 email in which Couloute agreed for Lauren to leave Connecticut.

He failed to disclose to the judge that there was a no contact order in New York state, and he failed to disclose that Couloute had himself left Connecticut.

In effect, Danaher had presented an arrest warrant application- signed under penalty of perjury- which claimed Lauren had fled the state with no warning when he had evidence this was not true.

Rupp told me that Officer Danaher made another startling admission during his testimony.

Danaher admitted in testimony that his goal was to change custody.

In most cases, police are reticent to get involved when custody is involved- something that Sunny Kelley has told me- but in this case, Officer Danaher proceeded forward with reckless abandon with the goal, according to his own testimony, of changing custody.

It appears as though he did not like the custody arrangement and determined to play judge himself while actually being a cop.

Lauren was arrested in court; she was extradited, and her daughter first spent time with her parents and then with Couloute before finally being returned.

All this flared Lauren’s PTSD, which she has from years of abuse by Couloute.

All these were factors in the jury awarding her $1.5 million.

Both Lauren and her attorney speculated why Danaher would go so far over the edge.

Two things that Anthony Rupp found had no bearing were first Danaher’s position as a K9 officer. While he seemed to be an unusual officer to investigate this alleged crime, Rupp told me that his investigation determined he was the proper officer and assigned to the case.

Second, Danaher’s father is a judge, John Danaher, in Connecticut, but Rupp told me he found no connection in this case.

I reached out to the Chief of Police for Bloomfield, Paul Hammick, but he did not respond.

I also reached out to Kristan Maccini, of Maccini, Voccio and Jordan, who represented Danaher, but she did not respond.

Finally, this case was first filed in January 2019. That means that it took nearly five years from beginning to end- and frankly it still hasn’t ended with likely appeals coming.

It’s another example of a civil case taking way too long. I have called for deadlines for trials to occur in child custody case.

In fact, the US needs for civil court the same speedy trial guarantee that criminal defendants already have in the sixth amendment.

Check out the article in the Frank Report on this case.