Charges Dropped Against Man Who Filed Police Brutality Complaint

A judge has thrown out criminal charges against a Windsor man amid ongoing controversy over whether Enfield police used excessive force in arresting him.

Mark Maher appeared before Judge Howard Scheinblum in Enfield Superior Court Tuesday morning on charges of assaulting an officer and resisting arrest.

The charges stemmed from an April incident that was caught on tape at the Enfield boat launch, where Maher was spending time with friends.

During the brief hearing, Scheinblum dismissed the charges at the request of Maher’s defense attorney, Edward Joy.

Prosecutors did not object.

“I expected them to dismiss the charges and I’m glad that they did,” said Maher outside the courthouse. “I was brutalized by the Enfield police. I was assaulted.”

Joy said Maher was not at fault and was simply "in the wrong place at the wrong time and with the wrong officers.”

It comes after one of Maher’s attorneys released video of the incident that was captured by a police cruiser's dashboard camera.

Rather than handcuffing Maher and placing him in a cruiser, the video appears to show officers forcing Maher to the ground. Officer Matthew Worden then apparently punches Maher at least twice as two other officers hold him down.

“I did not do anything to warrant or deserve what was done to me that night. I have the scar above my eye for the rest of my life because of what was done to me,” said Maher.

After the incident, Maher filed a brutality complaint with Enfield police and is now planning to file a civil lawsuit, according to documents filed with the town.

Enfield police tried to bring criminal charges against Worden for the incident but prosecutors declined to sign the arrest warrant application.

Worden remains on paid administrative leave as the internal affairs investigation against him continues, according to Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza.

Police have received at least a dozen other complaints against Worden in the past, ranging from rudeness to the use of excessive force, Sferrazza said. Several other complaints are pending.