Bridgeport cop charged with third domestic violence incident

File photo of the Bridgeport Police Headquarters in Bridgeport, Conn., taken on March 1, 2018. File photo of the Bridgeport Police Headquarters in Bridgeport, Conn., taken on March 1, 2018. Photo: Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Bridgeport cop charged with third domestic violence incident 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut — A Bridgeport police officer has been placed on administrative leave following his third arrest for domestic violence.

Steven Figueroa, 28, was charged Saturday by police in Shelton with third-degree assault, unlawful restraint, threatening and risk of injury to a child.

He was released after posting $150,000 bond following an arraignment in Superior Court in Derby. The judge issued a protective order ordering Figueroa to have no further contact with his girlfriend.

“My client maintains his innocence and we are awaiting the results of a further investigation in the case, “said Figueroa’s lawyer, Christian Young.

Shelton police said Figueroa is accused of beating his girlfriend in the face in front of their young child.

Bridgeport Police Department Spokesman Terron Jones said Saturday that Chief Armando Perez put Figueroa on administrative leave after learning the officer turned himself in to Shelton Police.

“Chief Perez will assign a full and thorough internal investigation by Bridgeport's Office of Internal Affairs where the repercussions for the incident will be determined based on current Bridgeport Police policies and the conclusion of the investigation,” Jones said.

Last year Figueroa was also placed on administrative duty after his second domestic violence arrest following an incident involving a different woman.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” said Perez said at that time. “After his first arrest we spent a lot of time mentoring this officer, but now that there has been (another) arrest we are going to let the chips fall where they may.”

In that case, officers were called to a home on Brooks Street for a dispute. When officers got there, they said, they saw Figueroa, who was armed, pushing and shoving some women in the street.

Police said Figueroa’s former girlfriend told officers that she and some friends had come home to find Figueroa intoxicated and waiting for her.

Police said the victim told them Figueroa, who had been ordered by a judge to stay away from the woman, had been stalking and harassing her and had called her cell phone 67 times.

When she had threatened to call police, she told officers, Figueroa responded, “My boys are coming and they ain’t gonna do (expletive) to me,” police said.

Officers took Figueroa’s gun away and placed him in the back of a police car. They later went to his home where they seized his police property and more guns, police said.

The charges were dropped in that case and Figueroa was reinstated as a police officer after completing a family violence program.

In November 2017, Figueroa was charged by Stratford police with third-degree criminal mischief and disorderly conduct after police said he broke the window of the former girlfriend’s car during a dispute.

Prosecutors later nolled or dropped that case after the woman said she didn’t want to pursue it.