A Hartford police sergeant is under criminal investigation and on paid leave after punching a Black woman in the face during an altercation inside the department’s booking facility last month, police confirmed Monday.
Sgt. James Guzie will remain on leave while both investigations are pending but neither is the first investigation into the 10-year veteran of the department, who was arrested in 2018 after a domestic incident but later had those charges dropped.
Guzie, who is white, was working in the department’s detention division March 15 when a woman arrested during a domestic violence incident was brought to the facility for booking and fought with several officers while not handcuffed during her processing, Chief Jason Thody said Monday.