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Members of the Redding Police Department were dispatched to the home of Peter Valenti, 32, on April 11, 2016, after he sent multiple text messages to friends seeking police help. Upon arrival, the officers found him hanging from the rafters in a shed next to his home.
According to a CT Post report, the town and family have reached a settlement agreement, though the terms of the settlement will not be disclosed, “but it is substantial enough to support Valenti’s young son for the rest of his life.”
Valenti had been depressed since the death of his wife a month before his suicide from an asthma attack, leaving him as the sole parent to their 15-month-old son. Officers eventually found Valenti hanging by a noose in the shed, but the lawsuit stated that officers didn’t check his vital signs for about 15 minutes, according to reports.
When examining Valenti, paramedics detected a heartbeat, but he died later at Danbury Hospital.
Patch detailed the actions of the Redding officers that day, reviewing body-camera video recorded by officers, police records, and a complaint filed by the first emergency medical technician on the scene. The officer who found Valenti first thought it was a "dummy hanging by a noose."
Police Chief Doug Fuchs initially stopped an EMT from examining Valenti because it was a crime scene, reports said. It took 34 minutes from the arrival of the first officer until Valenti was checked, Patch.com said. Fuchs was put on administrative leave after the lawsuit was filed and retired from the department in June.
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