New Video of Assault by Cop Who Police Tried to Arrest But Prosecutor Said Tape Evidence Was “Too Complicated”

On April 1 Mark Maher was
assaulted by Enfield, Connecticut, police officer Matthew Worden
during an arrest at a boat show. An investigating officer, Lt.
Lawrence Curtis, decided the use of force by Worden, which caused
multiple injuries to Maher’s face and arm, was “neither necessary
nor needed,” The states’ attorney for Hartford, Gail Hardy, an
“11-year veteran” of the Division of Criminal Justice when she took
the position,
rejected the police’s warrant application, saying the video,
which depicted the brutality, had “many moving parts where it is
extremely difficult to keep up with everything that is going on
with all parties.

Now, The Courant, which has been following the story
and the department, reports that a second video, from the squad
car’s dashcam, has been revealed. Maher, who is suing for the
injuries and psychological distress allegedly caused by Worden, is
also fighting charges stemming to the arrest incident.
The Courant reports:

Two police videos of the incident, including one that shows
Worden hitting Mark Maher, may be played in Superior Court in
Enfield Tuesday as Maher tries to get charges of interfering with a
police officer thrown out. The second cruiser video recorded the
conversation between Worden and Maher. Both videos, which The
Courant obtained from one of Maher’s attorneys, may be presented as
evidence that Maher should not have been arrested.

Watch the video, via The Courant,
here.

This morning a court
threw out charges against Maher. Worden, who has had 14
internal affairs investigations opened against him in the last
seven years, remains un-arrested and on paid leave.

The “police interaction” between Worden and Maher began over
Maher smoking a cigarette outside and questioning why another
person was being detained.