A Connecticut divorced mother, arrested in 2017 for custodial interference, won a federal lawsuit this month against the Bloomfield Connecticut Police Department for false arrest and malicious prosecution. The police officer who wrote the fraudulent application for the arrest of Lauren Haidon is reportedly the son of CT Judge John A. Danaher, III.
A federal jury in Connecticut awarded Haidon $160,000 in compensatory damages and $1.34 million in punitive damages – finding Bloomfield K-9 Officer Brendan Danaher liable for harmful and malicious actions, and his superiors for grossly negligent behavior in not reining in or firing this lawless and incompetent officer of the law.
Lauren Haidon, falsely arrested, got even with a $1.5m federal lawsuit victory.
Allegations of Conspiracy and False Arrest Unveiled in Civil Trial
The civil trial revealed that K-9 Officer Danaher conspired with Haidon’s former husband, a former Connecticut prosecutor, and Court TV analyst Matthew Couloute Jr.
Haidon and Couloute divorced in 2015 and had a “Separation Agreement” approved by Hartford District Superior Court Judge Jorge Simon, which granted Haidon primary custody of the couple’s three-year-old daughter. He also required Couloute to pay child support, along with granting him visitation rights.
Since they both lived in Connecticut, their separation agreement required Haidon to get Couloute’s permission to relocate her daughter outside the state.
About a year after their divorce, Couloute left Connecticut for Atlanta, Georgia, and chose to stop making child support payments.
Haidon went on public assistance to compensate for the loss of support and then decided to save money on rent. She chose to temporarily relocate to her parents’ home in West Seneca, New York.
Haidon obtained his consent to take Sophia to New York and filed notice with the Connecticut Superior Court that she was temporarily relocating to West Seneca with her daughter and had the written consent of her ex-spouse, as per the Separation Agreement.
Couloute, on the other hand, now living in Georgia, was in violation of the Separation Agreement since he declined to pay child support.
When Haidon suggested legal remedies, he threatened her with arrest, informing her that as a former Connecticut prosecutor who knew judges and police, he could take Sophia away, just like he had done with his son from a former relationship – and she would never see her daughter again.
Matthew Couloute, a former prosecutor knows that winning is everything.
He meant what he said. Though living in Georgia, Couloute filed a motion for sole custody of Sophia in Connecticut court and added a motion for contempt alleging Haidon violated the Separation Agreement by bringing Sophia to New York.
While these motions were pending approval by a judge, Haidon took action in New York State Family Court to suspend Couloute’s child custody. On January 9, 2017, Judge Mary Carney signed a temporary court order suspending Couloute’s access to Sophia on the basis that he stopped paying child support for the child.
Couloute drove from Georgia to Connecticut to see Judge Danaher’s son, his good friend, Bloomfield K-9 Officer Brendan Danaher.
K-9 Officer Danaher, working for Couloute, contacted Haidon, commanding her, as he would to one of the fine dogs on his excellent K9 team, to bring the child back to Couloute in Connecticut because she violated the Separation Agreement, for she took her daughter out of the state without the consent of Couloute.
Haidon, who identifies as a mother and not a dog, refused and provided evidence to K-9 Officer Danaher of emails from Couloute consenting to his daughter’s temporary move to New York.
K-9 Oficer Brenden Danaher trains dogs and tries to tame mothers.,,,
After receiving the proof that she was not in violation of the Separation Agreement, K-9 Officer Danaher reported to Couloute, and the two men conspired to lie, albeit for a good cause, to secure her arrest and place four-year-old Sophia into the hands of Couloutte, removing a second mother from the life of her child.
Risky Lie
The clever father chose to put K9 Officer Danaher at a bit of a risk. He would have to lie to a judge. The basis of the arrest warrant – for which they needed a judge to sign off – was to tell a “little white one” that falsely stated that Couloute’s contempt motion against Haidon had already been signed by a judge – which it had not been.
In other words, lie to the arrest warrant judge about another judge having signed the contempt and custody motions.
They figured the arrest warrant judge would take the good word of K9 Officer Danaher, son of a judge and former prosecutor.
On January 12, 2017, K-9 Officer Danaher submitted a false arrest warrant application to Superior Court Justice Omar Williams for the arrest of Lauren Haidon for Custodial Interference in the First Degree based on the “little white one” that a family court judge had signed Couloute’s motions for contempt and sole custody, and that Haidon absconded with the child whose custody was not hers.
None of K9 Danaher’s superiors chose to investigate the perjurious arrest warrant application submitted to Judge Williams.
Relying on the integrity of the police who, after all, conduct the investigations, Judge Williams signed a warrant for Haidon’s arrest on January 24, 2017.
Judge Williams set bail for $10,000 and added conditions of release that required Haidon to obey the Separation Agreement – the one he had been falsely told that another judge had determined she had violated.
On February 8, 2017, the Connecticut State’s Attorney’s Office granted an Extradition Request permitting CT law enforcement to arrest Haidon in New York.
On February 14, 2017, Couloute filed an emergency order of custody in CT family court, requesting authorities to take Sophia from her mother and bring her to him to Connecticut.
The mother responded by filing a Motion to Dismiss Couloute’s emergency order of custody, and the Hartford Connecticut Superior Court granted temporary jurisdiction over custody proceedings to New York State Family Court.
Couloute’s emergency custody motion was heard before Judge Carney of New York State Family Court, Erie County. Haidon, fearing her arrest and loss of custody of her child, did not appear in court.
The Erie County Department of Social Services filed a Neglect Petition against Haidon. Judge Carney granted the petition on March 1, 2017, but instead of giving Couloute custody, she gave temporary custody to Haidon’s parents, but restricted the mother’s access to Sophia to three times a week for a few hours, supervised by Haidon’s father.
Haidon’s Ordeal and Its Impact
Despite the fact that she had to leave the home of her parents, Haidon breathed a sigh of relief, for at least Sophia was safe. Now she had to face the false arrest.
She turned herself in to authorities in Western New York on March 2, 2017, and was booked at the Erie County Holding Center and held overnight. On March 3, Haidon appeared in court in an orange jumpsuit, shackled around her ankles, hands, and waist, in front of her peers and family. She waived her extradition rights in court and agreed to turn herself in to the Bloomfield Connecticut police, which she did three days later, on March 6, 2017.
In Connecticut, Haidon was held in custody and consulted with a Connecticut attorney, Rachel Baird.
Haidon’s criminal attorney Rachel Baird chose to play hard ball with Bloomfield PD and demanded a hearing on the arrest warrant itself…
After Haidon explained she was never in violation of the Separation Agreement, which was the basis of her arrest, Baird advised Haidon that she could challenge K9 Officer Danaher’s affidavit in support of the application for a warrant for her arrest.
Baird filed a Notice of Intent to file a Franks Hearing – to challenge the truthfulness of factual statements made in an affidavit supporting the warrant – in the District of Hartford Superior Court on Haidon’s behalf on March 6, 2017. That same day, police released Haidon from Bloomfield, Connecticut police custody.
After being released, Haidon was required to travel to Connecticut every month to follow up with the unlawful Custodial Interference charge levied against her. On August 17, 2017, the charges levied against Haidon were terminated in her favor.
Couloute’s Past and Legal Actions
Due to the arrest and damage to Haidon’s reputation, the Connecticut Superior Court granted Couloute’s motion for primary physical custody on September 14, 2017. Sophia was taken from her grandparents’ home in New York and handed to Couloute. She lived in Georgia from September 2017 until June 2018 – when Haidon finally regained custody.
Haidonthen wisely chose top civil litigation lawyers – Marco Cercone Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham LLC of Buffalo, NY and Benjamin J. Lehberger of Dilworth IP LLC of Trumbell, CT – to file a federal lawsuit in the US District Court of Connecticut in 2019 alleging false arrest. A trial was held this month. A federal jury heard it all, and decided that K9 Officer Danaher was false to the core, and awarded Haidon $1.5 million.
Lauren Haidon fought hard but to keep her freedom and her child safe.
Couloute’s Controversial Past
Matthew Couloute, who conspired with his friend K9 Officer Danaher to lie to a judge to get custody of his child and have the mother arrested, seems to have come out of this unscathed.
No media has reported this story.
This lack of media coverage is different from the media coverahe Couloute enjoyed during his marriage to Haidon.
His reputation was explored just months after their 2010 marriage when LiarsCheatersRUS.com published allegations made by his previous wife, Amanda Ryncarz, with whom Couloute broke up 12 days after their wedding, former girlfriend, professional roller-derby player ‘Malibu’ Stacey Blitsch, with whom he has a son and successfully won custody, depriving the mother of her parental rights, and other women he had known who felt abused and betrayed.
Among the postings criticizing Couloute were: “Cheated on ALL of ex-girlfriends. Lied and cheated his entire way through his 40 years of life,’ one post on LiarsCheatersRUs.com reads. ‘HE’S SCUM! RUN FAR AWAY!’
Another warned: ‘Our relationship didn’t last long, as I figured him out pretty quickly, but for others, BE FOREWARNED.’
Short and sweet – Couloute’s marriage to Amanda Ryncarz, lasted only 12 days.
Couloute’s tryst with Stacy Malibu Blitsch led to a son, whom the wily Cououlete won custody of – leaving Stacy disconsolate over the loss.
In response, Couloute filed a lawsuit against his exes and lost, which fueled media interest in the case. The Gothamist dubbed him the “Poster Boy for Cheating Men,” while the New York Post called him a Cyber-Slammed Cad.”
During the controversy, Haidon defended Couloute, choosing not to believe her new husband was anything less than he appeared – the soul of charm and consideration.
Shortly afterward, Couloute left Haidon and their child, leaving for the lush green landscapes of Atlanta, forgetting to pay around $100,000 in rent and bills. Then he stopped paying child support and sought custody, and the mother’s arrest.
Meanwhile, he goes unpunished for his complicity with K9 Officer Danaher, whose career, it is said, has gone to the dogs.
Matthew Couloute got what he wanted — not to pay child support. If he caused his wife a little inconvenience and torpedoed his police buddy’s career, they’ll get over it.
Couloute continues to work in Atlanta, and no doubt will seek out other women to bed and break, telling them how cruel Haidon, Ryncarz, ‘Malibu’ Blitsch and all the other women he ever knew were to him and how he was forced to fight back with his legal and extralegal skills.
He seems to have won most of his battles with women.
But Haidon, now a millionaire, wasn’t so easy to take down, and Sophia lives with her mom, which was all she wanted.
Still Coulette won after all — he got out of paying child support, which appears to have been his only goal from the start.
K-9 Officer Brenden Danaher (left) — found his bark was loud, but a woman put the bite on him when she won $1.5 million from the CT taxpayers after the K9 cop hot caught lying to a judge.
