Assault Against Police Alleged in Nightclub Incident

An East Hartford woman and a Massachusetts man were taken into custody and two police officers sustained minor injuries when a fight outside a popular Farmington Avenue nightclub early Sunday escalated into a scene of “mass confusion," said.

Ivanie E. Castillo, 21, of 50 Spruce Drive in East Hartford was charged with two counts of assaulting an officer, second-degree breach of peace and interfering with an officer in connection with the incident at the at 904 Farmington Ave., police said.

Grzegorz Lech, 26, of Chicopee, Mass., was also charged with second-degree breach of peace.

Several officers were called to Shish on a report of a large fight at about 1:45 a.m. Police said Lech was seen fighting with another man near the club entrance. When Officer Kyle Christian tried to restrain Lech, he was allegedly attacked from behind by Castillo, police said.

Christian injured a hamstring and Sgt. Brett Balisciano’s left thumb was cut, police said.

Lech declined medical treatment for abrasions and a swollen eye, police said.

“Due to the large amount of people and mass confusion in the entranceway to Shish, I was unable to identify the other party who had been fighting with Lech,” Christian said in an arrest report.

Lech told police that he was trying to defuse a verbal argument between two unidentified men when he was pushed, triggering a fight.

Aaron Sarwar, who owns Shish, told police that the initial call for assistance was for a verbal argument.

A witness told police Castillo was trying to defend herself when the fight broke out.

“Tonight at Shish a fight broke out and she he hit a cop,” the witness said. “She did not know [he] was a cop.”

Castillo was released on $10,000 bail and was scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 23 in Hartford Superior Court.

Lech was released on $1,000 bail. He was scheduled to appear Wednesday in Hartford Community Court.