Revere Police, city officials examine options in excessive force lawsuit

REVERE – Police and city officials are looking over their options in the wake of a lawsuit filed Monday against three police officers and the City of Revere.Ferdy Argueta, 37, of Beachmont, filed the lawsuit for unspecified monetary damages against the city and patrolmen Joseph DeLeo, Mark Birritteri and Lynn Romboli in U.S. District Court in Boston stemming from his Feb. 10, 2008 arrest during a traffic stop on Route 1A. The lawsuit claims the officers conducted an unreasonable search and seizure and used excessive force and the city did not train the officers properly.Police spokesman Captain Michael Murphy said Wednesday the department has not received a copy of the lawsuit and only heard about it after reading the Item. He said the department would be unable to open an internal investigation of the incident, “Until we have the opportunity to review the man’s complaint.””We may be interested to find out why this happened,” Murphy said.In the lawsuit, Argueta says he was pulled over and ordered out of his truck on the southbound side of Lee Burbank Highway (Route 1A) shortly after 11 p.m. He says the officers had placed him in handcuffs when DeLeo punched him once in the face and told him, “admit it,” after repeatedly denying he was intoxicated.Argueta says beforehand he noticed a police car flashing its lights and sirens and pulled to the left side of the road waiting for police to pass him on the right but they never did. After about a quarter of a mile, Argueta says he pulled over in the breakdown lane on the right.The man says he was ordered out of the car and asked if he was drunk numerous times before he was allegedly punched in the face. Police arrested and charged him with assault with a dangerous weapon, failing to stop for police and resisting arrest.According to Chelsea District Court documents and Suffolk District Attorney spokesman Jake Wark, all three charges against Argueta were dismissed Sept. 4, 2008.”Critical witnesses were not available for trial,” Wark said. “A judge dismissed the charges without prejudice, meaning the case could be brought back to court.”The only witnesses to the incident were Argueta and the three officers, implying the officers were not available for a court appearance.A police report of the incident obtained in district court provides the police officers’ version of events leading up to Argueta’s arrest.Birritteri says he tried to pull over Argueta after he took an illegal left turn through a red arrow from Revere Beach Parkway eastbound onto Lee Burbank Highway where he accelerated to 50 mph while ignoring the lights and sirens from two police cars.The officers say Argueta only pulled over after reaching stopped vehicles at a traffic light on the Boston-Revere city line and that his truck was partially in the travel lane when it stopped.The officers claim Argueta, when ordered to step from the vehicle, opened his truck door forcefully and almost struck Romboli, who was forced to jump into the travel lane. Argueta strongly denies this allegation in his lawsuit.The three officers say in the police report that Argueta “tensed up” and attempted to move away from DeLeo while he was placed under arrest.Mayor Thomas Amborosino said Tuesday the city receives about two to three lawsuits alleging police misconduct on average every year.”I’m sure we’ll defend it aggressively,” he said.