The teen charged with causing the fatal crash that took the life of a Hartford police detective back in September went before a judge again Tuesday for his first pre-trial hearing.
Dozens of Hartford police officers showed up to support the family of Detective Bobby Garten, and said they plan to attend every court appearance during the proceedings.
“As long as the family needs us, we’re gonna be here,” said James Rutkauski, president of the Hartford Police Union. “They’re miserable. They’re miserable. They lost their son. There’s a light in your eyes that just diminishes when you lose a child.”
Richard Barrington Jr. is facing multiple charges including first-degree manslaughter and driving under the influence for the September 2023 crash that killed Garten and seriously injured his partner, Officer Brian Kearney.
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Police said Barrington was fleeing other officers during a traffic stop when he hit a Hartford police cruiser on Asylum Avenue, with Kearney behind the wheel and Garten in the passenger seat, as the pair were responding to a different call.
Kearney has returned to full duty, but the loss of Garten is still fresh at the department.
“I think everybody’s still mourning,” Rutkauski said. “You lose someone like Bobby, who’s, again, not only a great police officer but a great person, it’s hard. When you work with someone intimately like that for so long, to have him there one day and gone the next day, it’s just hard to heal. There’s no quick solution to that.”
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In court Tuesday, Barrington’s public defender said the family is in the final stages of hiring private counsel, and the case was continued to June 5.
On his way out of the courtroom, Barrington’s family and friends yelled ‘happy birthday’ to the now-19-year-old.
“He did nothing. He did nothing. He ran from the cops cause he’s young and dumb, that’s about it,” a loved one of Barrington’s said on his way out of the courthouse. “We’re here to support, that’s all we’re here is to support Richard Barrington. He did nothing wrong.”
“I’m sure the family’s suffering, too,” Rutkauski said. “I mean, we lost a brother, and their son and their brother has been incarcerated since October. I’m sure that’s difficult for them to deal with. So, the community lost two people at one time. I’m sure it’s hard for them.”
The union said they’d like to see this ordeal end with accountability.
“He has the opportunity to work through this, be accountable for his actions, and hopefully maybe in the future guide youth not to do these things, so we don’t have to stand out here and do these conferences about the loss to our families," Rutkauski said.
