Esteban Carpio was arrested following a violent struggle on Washington Street that left him with a bruised and bloody face, and a state trooper with a broken wrist.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 15, 2006

BY GREGORY SMITH
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- When Esteban Carpio first came into the public eye, he was a shocking sight. He was led into court wearing an unusual plastic spit shield, his face badly bruised and oozing blood.

People wondered how he got that way, and from some quarters, there were quick accusations of police brutality.

Whatever mystery lingers may have been solved in Superior Court yesterday, on the seventh day of Carpio's trial on charges that he murdered Providence police Detective Sgt. James L. Allen.

It was disclosed that state police Trooper Christopher Zarrella punched Carpio three times in the face during Carpio's capture after Allen was killed.

"I struck him because he was attempting to strike me. And I thought he had a weapon," Zarrella testified yesterday.

Zarrella said he hit Carpio three times with his fist because he was afraid that Carpio might injure him or Providence Patrolman Scott Petrocchi, who was helping to subdue Carpio during a violent struggle on Washington Street in downtown Providence. Zarrella said he was afraid for his life.

The use of force against Carpio was the subject of an FBI investigation last year. The FBI concluded that the arresting officers, who included FBI Special Agent Justin Bowers, showed great restraint and did not use excessive force, and that under the circumstances, the officers would have been justified in using deadly force.

In other testimony yesterday, Providence Detective Patricia Cornell said both of Allen's gunshot wounds were fatal.

A bullet that struck Allen in his head was fired from close range and a bullet that struck him in the vicinity of his collarbone was fired from at least three feet away, she testified.

Allen was shot with his own gun as he interviewed Carpio in a conference room at Providence police headquarters on April 16, 2005, regarding a stabbing in which Carpio was a suspect. Carpio then used the gun to shoot out a window in an adjoining office to escape. He was caught a few blocks away.

Carpio was brought to District Court for arraignment on April 18. He allegedly had spit in the face of a correctional officer while in custody at the Adult Correctional Institutions and there was concern that he had an infectious disease. Rather than risk another spitting incident, officers fastened the white plastic spit shield on his head.

When the FBI announced its conclusion regarding the use of force during the Carpio arrest, Kenneth W. Kaiser, special agent in charge of the Boston FBI office, said the force included a punch to Carpio's face.

He refused to say who punched Carpio in the face or even what law enforcement agency employed the officer at issue. But he did say that other officers punched Carpio, too, without specifying where their punches landed.

He mentioned that Zarrella suffered a broken wrist during the struggle, but he did not say how. There was no reference to the broken wrist yesterday.

Testifying for most of the time with his hands clasped behind his back, as if he was at parade rest, Zarrella crisply answered each question that was posed to him. If the question called for a yes or no answer, Zarrella would respond, "yes, counselor" or "no, counselor."

Zarrella testified that Carpio swung at him with his hands. Carpio resisted arrest and tried to get away, according to Zarrella and previous testimony, by kicking his legs, squirming and keeping one arm beneath his body so he could not be handcuffed.

The 250-pound Zarrella, who became a detective six months ago, briefly sparred with defense lawyer Robert L. Sheketoff as Sheketoff pressed him regarding the consistency of Zarrella's account of the arrest.

Trial Judge Robert D. Krause prevented Sheketoff from asking a particular question, and Zarrella appeared to smile.

"Do you find that amusing," Sheketoff demanded to know.

"No, counselor," Zarrella replied.

"Do you feel you can say anything up there" on the witness stand, Sheketoff said.

"Yes, counselor," Zarrella replied.

Bowers, who testified Tuesday, said Carpio had a bump over his eye and blood on his chin when he was hoisted up from the sidewalk after having been handcuffed.

In discussing ways that Carpio had been injured or might have been injured, Kaiser noted that Carpio also repeatedly hit his head hard against the walls of a rubber-lined cell at headquarters before he was transferred to the ACI. Carpio has pleaded innocent to four trial charges by reason of insanity.

In talking to correctional officers, according to Kaiser, Carpio gave conflicting accounts of how he landed when he made a 30-foot drop from the window at headquarters. He said more than once that he fell on his face and he said other times that he landed on his feet, according to Kaiser.

Cornell, who led the collection of physical evidence in Allen's slaying, said yesterday that she found "a good chunk of flesh with blood attached to it" that was torn from Carpio by a jagged piece of glass when he went through the window frame.

The police have said that they found three cartridge casings and a bullet in the conference room and five casings in or near the adjoining office. Cornell testified that the bullet was lodged in the support base of the conference room table and that it was fired by someone who was standing against the closed hallway door to the room.

Stuck to the back of the door, she testified, was rabbit hair from the black rabbit fur jacket that Carpio wore that night.

Others on the witness stand yesterday were Doyen Dunkley, owner of A-1 barber shop in the South End of Boston, who denied knowing and ever having met Carpio; Providence police Sgt. Robert K. Boehm, who discussed the characteristics of Allen's holster; and Marc Tobias, a lock expert, who said the lock on the conference room door was in good working order when Allen was killed.

Carpio told Allen in their truncated interview that he was working as a barber at A-1 barber shop. Providence Detective Timothy C. McGann has testified that it was one of a series of lies that Carpio told the police that night.

The trial is clipping along faster than expected, Krause told the jury. The prosecution is expected to rest its case today or tomorrow.

gsmith@projo.com / (401) 277-7334