Southington Man Shot By Police Suing Towns

A Southington man whom police shot while serving an arrest warrant in July 2011 has filed suit, claiming police acted recklessly.

The man, Erik Gothberg, 47, formerly of East Street, is seeking $15,000 in damages in connection to the incident, in which he was shot in the foot, according to the Hartford Courant. The suit was filed July 8 in New Britain Superior Court against the towns of both Plainville and Southington.

According to a July 2011 Patch article, Gothberg was coming out of the AMC Loews Theater in Plainville after a midnight showing when Plainville police approached him to serve a warrant on child pornography charges.

Police said Gothberg resisted arrest and reached toward his waistband. Police fired on Gothberg, causing injuries to his foot and he was hospitalized for three days afterward.

Gothberg claims in the lawsuit that he was unarmed and cooperative when police approached him and that three bones in his foot were shattered by the shot.

Two officers were also injured in the incident; one was hit when the shot ricocheted and the other by broken glass. Both were released from the hospital soon thereafter.

In an August 2012 plea deal, Gothberg pleaded guilty to a felony charge of risk of injury to a minor and was sentenced to five years in jail, suspended after 21 months, with three years probation.

He remains at Osborne Correctional Institute and is scheduled for release in February 2014.

According to Sgt. Lowell DePalma, police obtained the warrant for Gothberg after receiving information that he had videotaped a minor in sexual acts. Police said the minor was a Southington resident known to Gothberg.

Police did not find that Gothberg had a weapon when they arrested him.

The incident was investigated by state police and a report is expected to be filed soon.

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