Suit: LI man shot in eye 'posed no threat' when trying to enter home

A Long Island man shot in the eye when he tried to enter the West Babylon home of an NYPD detective last March filed a $35 million federal lawsuit that says the officer had no justification for using potentially deadly force. 

In the lawsuit filed on July 22 in the Southern District of New York, Rinaldo Laviolette, 27, said he was intoxicated when he mistakenly tried to enter the home of Det. Douglas DeOtto. Laviolette was unarmed and posed no threat to DeOtto or anyone else, court papers said. 

Laviolette suffered the loss of his right eye, brain damage and emotional trauma as a result of the shooting, the suit said. He has undergone two surgeries and has a titanium plate in his head, according to court papers.

The suit, which names DeOtto, the City of New York and the NYPD as defendants, seeks $25 million in damages, $10 million in punitive damages and attorney’s fees. 

“Defendant Det. Douglas DeOtto used deadly force,” the court papers said. “He knew or should have known that there was no reasonable basis for the use of such force. He could not and/or did not reasonably believe that deadly force was necessary.”

Laviolette’s attorney, Daniel Justus Solinsky of Westbury, said DeOtto should have called Suffolk police or even simply asked Laviolette what he was doing before opening fire.

"This was not a break-in, this was actually a simple and honest mistake," Solinsky said. "He went to the wrong door." 

DeOtto’s attorney, James Moschella of Manhattan, could not be reached for comment.

The NYPD declined to comment, saying it won't discuss pending litigation. Fabien Levy, press secretary for Mayor Eric Adams, also declined to comment.

Laviolette had attended a friend's birthday party at a Massapequa restaurant and consumed alcoholic beverages on the night of March 4, according to the court papers. Laviolette and others then went to a party on 7th Street in West Babylon, the court papers said, where he had more to drink and became intoxicated.

Laviolette, a supervisor at a Melville restaurant, left the party at the 7th Street house and was walking to his own home when he realized he had accidentally taken another partygoer’s wallet, the lawsuit said.

He was trying to return the wallet at about 3:15 a.m. on March 5, according to the lawsuit, when he went to a home on 5th Street — mistakenly believing it was the house where he had been partying — and tried to open the front door. That is when DeOtto shot Laviolette in the face at close range, the complaint said, adding that Laviolette was unarmed and did not pose a threat to anyone.

The lawsuit noted that Laviolette has not faced criminal charges as a result of the incident.

“Rinaldo Laviolette was completely unarmed,” the suit said. “Rinaldo Laviolette was breaking no law. Rinaldo Laviolette posed no threat to anyone. Rinaldo Laviolette had made an obvious mistake.” 

With Matthew Chayes