BANGOR, Maine — A man whose 21-year-old son was shot and killed by Hampden police two years ago has filed a wrongful death suit against the officer who fired the fatal shot, the chief of police and the town.
The Maine attorney general’s office found in October 2013 that Sgt. Christian Bailey, a more than 20-year veteran of the Hampden Police Department, was justified in using deadly force against Cameron Arrigoni. That decision will have no impact on the case, attorney Edward Benjamin of Portland, who represents the police and the town, said Tuesday.
In addition to Bailey and the town, the complaint also named Chief of Police Joseph Rogers.
The lawsuit originally was filed June 1 by Verne E. Paradie Jr., the Lewiston attorney representing Arrigoni’s father, Charles Arrigoni, 53, of Winterport, in Penobscot County Superior Court. Last week, the attorney for the town of Hampden moved it to U.S. District Court.
A trial date has not been set.
The incident on June 9, 2013, that led to Cameron Arrigoni’s death began when he told his live-in girlfriend that he was going to commit suicide and got a gun out of his car, the attorney general’s office said in its report on the shooting. She called 911 about 9:15 p.m. but hung up when he again threatened to kill himself.
When Bailey and Officer William Miller arrived, Cameron Arrigoni was trying to break down the locked door of the bedroom where the girlfriend had gone in an attempt to call 911 again, the report said. As the officers ascended the stairs to the second floor of the residence, they heard Cameron Arrigoni shouting to his girlfriend.
Bailey noted the broken bedroom door and yelled, “Police,” as he crossed the threshold of the room, the attorney general’s office said. Cameron Arrigoni, who was standing next to his girlfriend at the foot of the bed in the small bedroom, turned toward Bailey and pointed a loaded .380 caliber semiautomatic pistol at him. Bailey fired two rounds from his .45 caliber service weapon at Cameron Arrigoni, who was struck by the gunfire and fell to the floor.
Cameron Arrigoni was taken to a Bangor hospital where he was pronounced dead, the report said. An autopsy performed by the chief medical examiner’s office in Augusta determined that he died as a result of gunshot wounds to the head and upper torso.
His blood alcohol level was 0.183 at the time of his death, more than twice the legal limit to operate a vehicle, according to a previously published report. A moderate amount of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, also was found in his system.
The lawsuit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, including hospital and funeral expenses, and attorney’s fees.
“There’s evidence they went into the house without adequate training,” Paradie said Tuesday. “It’s our belief that they were told by dispatch to wait for backup from people who have the special force training required to handle these situations. They went in based on the belief that the woman was in trouble.”
Benjamin said in his answer to the complaint that the amount of force used by Bailey was “objectively reasonable.” The attorney said that Paradie’s version of what happened was wrong.
“There was no directive that they were to wait outside,” he said. “It would be foolish for someone else to tell officers on the scene what to do.
[Cameron Arrigoni’s] already taken the phone away from her. She’s told the dispatcher that he has a loaded handgun and is alternatively pointing the gun at himself and at her. The officers can hear he’s kicking down the door. The idea they should have waited outside under those circumstances is foolish.”