August 03, 2010
NEW MILFORD WOMAN WHO WAS ATTACKED IS SUING POLICE
NEW MILFORD—A local mother of three who was reportedly attacked last November by her estranged husband in front of their children and her mother is suing the town of New Milford on all their behalfs, claiming “negligence” on the part of the police department.
The suit was filed July 14 in Litchfield Superior Court by the law firm of Stratton Faxon of New Haven on behalf of Catherine Fergus, her three children (Conor, Cara and Patrick) and her mother, Ann T. Wranovix, all of whom resided at the same address, where the Nov. 14 assault by Neil Fergus was said to have taken place.
Mr. Fergus, 41, was charged that day with violation of a protective order by threat or trespass; first-degree assault; and assault of an elderly, blind pregnant or retarded individual in the third degree.
According to the lawsuit, Mrs. Fergus had reported to the police earlier on the day of the incident that Mr. Fergus had been violating the protective order against him by making “several dozen unwanted communications over a short period of time.” It claims that they “failed to detain” him but “instead warned him of his wife’s complaints by phone,” whereupon, “enraged,” according to the suit, he went to her home and “committed a savage series of assaults, … including a knife attack, …. [which] were witnessed by the other plaintiffs.”
Mrs. Fergus was subsequently hospitalized for treatment of “several” stab wounds, according to the suit.
In a news release from the law firm, attorney Joel T. Faxon stated: “It is inconceivable that a trained police officer would call ... [a] man who recently threatened his estranged wife and alert him that he was about to be arrested.”
He continued, “Barney Fife would know that the ... man’s next move would be to go attack the woman again,” referring to the comic fictional deputy sheriff character portrayed by actor Don Knotts on the 1960s’ television series “The Andy Griffith Show.”
“It’s shocking that the police response is so incompetent,” Mr. Faxon stated.
He said in the news release that Mrs. Fergus was stabbed in her car in front of their two sons and then ran inside, where her estranged husband chased her and threw her 71-year-old mother to the ground “in his pursuit to kill Catherine.”
The suit claims the attack “was proximately caused by the negligence and/or carelessness of the defendant in one or more of the following ways”: failure to arrest Mr. Fergus immediately, failure to detain him, tipping him off to “his pending arrest while providing no protection” for Mrs. Fergus, failure to protect her, failure “to follow domestic violence protocols and training, and/or [exposing his wife] to a foreseeable risk of harm.”
The defendants are seeking monetary damages in excess of $15,000 because, according to the suit, Mrs. Fergus “suffered internal injuries and scarring, and loss of muscular function.” Also, she “was traumatized, lost earnings and earning capacity, and was caused a diminution of life’s enjoyment in the past and future,” and would “continue to incur medical and psychological counseling expenses for herself and her children.”
The children and their grandmother, who were said to have been caused “grave emotional distress by witnessing” the attack on Mrs. Fergus, are claiming damages “for emotional distress, counseling, future lost earning capacity and diminished life’s enjoyments.”
Neither New Milford Police Chief Colin McCormack nor Mayor Patricia Murphy was available for comment.
