Lawsuit Claims Edward Ozga was Falsely Arrested Following Son’s Death

The parents of a Southington teenager who took his own life following a domestic dispute at their South End Road last September is seeking an unspecified amount of money for emotional damage they suffered when the teenager’s father was detained and “falsely arrested” during the investigation.

Attorney Robert Berke, representing Edward and Robin Ozga, of 949 South End Road, filed the federal lawsuit in the U.S District Court of Bridgeport on Wednesday, naming five officers with the Southington Police Department who were involved in the investigation and seeking “compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees and other relief as deemed fair and equitable.”

The lawsuit states that defendants Stephen Eliot, Mark Beale, Michael Shanley, Jeremy Busa and Thomas Porter, all members of the Southington Police Department, “as direct and proximate result of the actions of the defendants, Plantiff(s) Edward Ozga and Robin Ozga suffered severe emotional distress including anxiety, stress, emotional and mental upset, loss of sleep, and loss of time from personal pursuits.”

“The intentional acts of the defendants were reckless, wanton, willful and malicious and outside the scope of their employment obligations,” Berke wrote in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks damages on seven counts including false arrest, two counts of reckless infliction of emotional distress, two counts of negligent infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and false imprisonment.

Messages left for Berke and police administration Friday were not immediately returned.

Edward and Robin Ozga lost their son, 18-year-old Joseph Ozga, when he shot himself in the head after Edward reported to police that he “was taking items from the home without permission.”

Police arrived to find Joseph Ozga severely injured as a result of the gunshot wound inside the home. His death was eventually ruled a suicide, according to a report from the state’s Chief Medical Examiner.

Edward Ozga, a 19-year volunteer firefighter with Engine Co. 3 in Milldale, claims in the lawsuit that after police arrived, they immediately detained him and held him inside a police cruiser as they surveyed the scene inside the couple’s 949 South End Road home.

Ozga said he pleaded with officers to contact his wife about their son’s medical condition and provided them with her work phone number, but the officers refused and instead kept him handcuffed inside the cruiser as they removed Joseph Ozga from the home. They proceeded to remove him from the cruiser after Joseph Ozga was taken away by ambulance and conducted a gunshot residue test on him.

The detectives detained Ozga anyway, and when he asked about his son’s condition, Detective Beale informed him “that the injuries were not serious,” the lawsuit said. Beale later told Ozga he knew that Ozga did not shoot his son because the residue test was negative.

“Plantiff Edward Ozga was held in custody at the police department for several hours,” the lawsuit states. “After Platiff Edward Ozga provided police with a statement, he was advised that his son had died. Plantiff Edward Ozga was not charged with a crime and was held, against his will, without probable cause and against his will for several hours.”

The lawsuit also indicated that the family has not received personal property including evidence that was collected during the investigation despite making several requests.

The documents filed this week do not provide any monetary request and indicate that the Ozga family is requesting a full jury trial.

The lawsuit, which is available through the federal Public Access to Court Electronic Records, or PACER, system, is included in the PDF under the photograph above.