http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Jeff%20Cohen/2011_09_08_JC%20110908%20Nappier.mp3
State prosecutors and Hartford Police say there was no basis for the motor vehicle charges filed against state State Treasurer Denise Nappier last week that resulted in her car being towed after a traffic stop. Hartford Police Union officials say its officers did nothing wrong.
Nappier told the Hartford Courant that she had dropped off a friend when police stopped her. And she questioned whether being black, in a black car, in a black neighborhood may have made police suspicious. But, according to the police union, there's more to the story.
Officers were dispatched to 385 Barbour Street for an emergency call. They didn't know the nature of the call, but they may have known this: "385 Barbour Street is a well-known narcotics outlet, it's a high-crime area, if you would." That's Officer Nazario Figueroa, vice president of the Hartford Police Union. He says that two officers were called to the address. A third officer, a female, joined them and saw Nappier's car -- which she had seen before.
"The car is going into this area where we have an unspecified incident call. Most officers need to think out of the box. So she may be thinking maybe this vehicle is related to that call. She's always thought it was kind of suspicious that the car kind of stuck out. So she runs the plate and nothing came back for the plates."
After it became clear that Nappier's state car had issues with its registration and paperwork, officers on the scene decided to issue her a summons and tell her she couldn't drive away in what appeared to be an unregistered vehicle . "They wouldn't do it for anyone else, quite simply. You can't just let somebody drive away in an unregistered car." And while Nappier told the Courant she walked three miles home because she didn't want to call anyone, the union says the officers gave her another option. "There was three officers there, they each had offered her a ride to get home and she declined."
Nappier's office did not respond to an email seeking comment. And while Figueroa says the incident could have played out differently, he also says that the officer involved did her job and is likely going to get punished for it. Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts says he is investigating and that the officer has been reassigned.
