A local police chief in Connecticut has been arrested after he allegedly punched a woman in the face during a domestic dispute earlier this week.
East Lyme Police Chief Michael Finkelstein was arrested Wednesday and charged with disorderly conduct and breach of peace in the second degree, CT Insider reported. He did not enter a plea during a court appearance later the same day, and he was released on $10,000 bond.
Finkelstein was also placed on administrative leave and Lt. Michael Macek will serve as acting chief pending the outcome of an investigation, officials said.
According to the warrant for his arrest, officers were called on Tuesday to Finkelstein’s home just after 5:16 a.m. to investigate a “non-active physical domestic disturbance.” When they arrived on the scene, they were met by one of Finkelstein’s family members, who alleged the police chief assaulted her the night before, NBC Connecticut reported. She noted that she did not immediately alert authorities because Finkelstein told her he would do his best to ensure no one at the police department believed her claims.
Police noted in the warrant that they saw multiple visible injuries on the woman, including “dried blood on her nose, upper lip and chin.”
The woman said she and Finkelstein got into an argument Monday after he’d consumed at least three or four glasses of wine and then some hard liquor. At one point during the evening, she took his phone and started searching through it, convinced he’d tried to call a co-worker he allegedly had an affair with some time ago, according to the arrest documents.
When Finkelstein tried to take his phone back, the pair struggled and their confrontation escalated into physical violence. She claimed Finkelstein “punched her in the face,” wrapped his hands around her throat and wrestled the phone out her hands before hurling it at her chest. She added that it was not uncommon for the police chief to suffer fits of rage after having too much to drink and that their arguments have turned physical before.
Finkelstein told authorities he did not mean to harm the woman, but that she did get hurt while they battled over his phone. He said he attempted to grab his cell phone from her, she pulled it back and when he let go, it hit her in the face. The police chief also claimed that she threatened to “get him in trouble” and intentionally did not wash her face so she will still be bloodied when police arrived on the scene.
Finkelstein is due back in court on June 18.