Lawrence Galego claims he was injured in a terrifying police raid gone awry in his Fall River apartment three years ago and that officers filed a “false police report to cover up their wrongful conduct.”
Last month, Galego filed charges in U.S. District Court of Massachusetts seeking damages for what he claims were police negligence and excessive force.
Galego couldn’t be reached for comment for this story, but one of his attorneys, Kenneth Mello, told GBH News that his client was physically and mentally traumatized by an early morning assault — prompted while police were responding to a call on the first floor.
“Mr. Galego lives on the third floor, rear apartment in the building, and they went to the wrong place,’’ Mello said. “They clearly used excessive force, and Mr. Galego suffered some pretty serious injuries as a result.”
In the lawsuit, Galego claims he was in his house when police officers knocked on his door, struck him in the face and held him on the floor. The lawsuit alleges Galego “began to lose consciousness and was so terrified that he soiled himself.“ He filed his suit against the city of Fall River, former Police Chief Albert Dupere and a dozen other policer officers, and others.
A lawyer for the city, Thomas Donohue, says officers did nothing wrong. In an email response, Donohue said police were responding to a call from people in the building who said they were hiding from someone with a gun.
“Given a potential armed hostage situation, the officers responded quickly and appropriately,’’ he wrote. “Based on the information we have at this time, we are confident that the officers will be exonerated and we look forward to the truth coming out in the course of this litigation.”
The case adds to a growing number of allegations about police misconduct in Fall River, a small city south of Boston. Among them, a former police officer, Michael Pessoa, is facing cases in Fall River Superior Court for allegations of assault. Another officer, Nicholas Hoar, was indicted is U.S. District Court in November for allegedly assaulting a man in police custody.
Civil rights attorney Howard Friedman, who settled a misconduct case with the city in 2019 related to a separate civil case against Pessoa, says he’s not surprised that Fall River is facing more charges. He says the problem is that the city doesn’t punish those who do wrong.
“They feel empowered because the powers that be don't do anything to prevent misconduct,’’ he said. “It is a department where the police officers in their union are seen to be more or less in charge.”
