Stratford School Superintendent Uyi Osunde
Two Minute Video captures response to incident at Stratford school superintendent’s home that led to suspension in November
Source: Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Connecticut Post, YouTube, CT Insider
The video recordings, which were obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media Group through a state Freedom of Information request, captured the moments after police were called to Osunde’s New Haven home on the evening of November 25th, and their decision to charge him with second-degree breach of peace.
According to Board Chair Michael Henrick, the ongoing investigation is expected to include the review of the body-cam footage, which was captured by multiple officers who responded to the dispute, and runs for more than eight hours in total. The published video by the Connecticut Post runs for two minutes.
School Superintendent Uyi Osunde denied threatening to harm a family member during a domestic dispute that led to his arrest last year.
The misdemeanor charge against Osunde, 41, was dropped last month, ending the criminal case. The schools chief, however, remains suspended from his role as the school board awaits the outcome of an investigation by private attorneys into the circumstances surrounding the arrest.
Henrick said earlier this week he had not yet seen the footage and is waiting for the results of the board investigation, which the panel authorized when they voted to place Osunde on paid leave. Once that probe is complete, he said school board members will decide how to proceed.
Video shows he said he would cooperate fully with law enforcement. The footage reveals that the family member recanted her claim that Osunde threatened to physically harm her on the night of the argument. Initially, the family member told officers Osunde threatened to throw her out a window and break her bones while cornering her in a bathroom.
But she later told police that those threats were made during previous arguments that had taken place days and weeks earlier, the footage shows. The recordings also captured the moment the family member asked officers to drop their investigation — a request police denied after they said they determined Osunde was the dominant aggressor in the dispute.
Osunde, who is shown on the footage speaking calmly to the officers, told police the argument began when he was lying in bed while scrolling on his cellphone. He said the family member expressed frustration about him hiding his phone, and then slapped it out of his hand, which caused them to get into a heated argument, the footage shows.
The family member said the argument continued into the bathroom, and that she felt intimidated when Osunde did not leave her alone and used his foot to prevent the door from closing, causing the frame to break, according to the footage.
Osunde, who admitted to saying “nasty things” during the argument, reiterated that the dispute never became violent, the video shows. He provided officers with a partial video recording of the incident he captured with his phone, the footage shows.
“The only time she put hands on me was when she smacked the phone out of my hands,” Osunde told officers. “Outside of that, we got close to each other’s face, we got loud, she slammed the door, I stopped it with my leg.”
According to a police report from the arrest, officers used the video Osunde captured on his phone to determine he was the dominant aggressor in the incident. Osunde, the footage shows, disputed that accusation and suggested the family member should also face a charge for hitting the phone out of his hand.
“I don’t know how I’m the dominant aggressor when she came all the way upstairs, when I was laying in the bed on the phone and she smacked the phone out of my hands,” Osunde said. “I don’t know how I’m the dominant. I didn’t initiate that.”
The footage shows Osunde asking police about the potential public interest in the case.
“I serve in a high-profile position, so is this going to end up in a headline somewhere?” he asked. He later commented that, “I am the superintendent of schools in Stratford, Connecticut. I know certain kinds of people pick up police things.”
The officers informed Osunde the department does not generally publicize information about domestic disputes, but the arrest would be a matter of public record. Osunde voluntarily contacted the Stratford Board of Education to alert them to the arrest.
CT Post Video may be found at:
