A federal judge in Connecticut has ruled that a lawsuit can proceed on its allegations that police responding to a domestic dispute call acted recklessly when they entered a house without a search warrant.

The city of Danbury had sought to dismiss the lawsuit filed on behalf of Fleetwood Drive resident Kelly Novo, whose daughter had called police after a dispute with her mother.

Novo's daughter, unbeknownst to her mother, let three police officers enter the home, according to Novo's attorney, Edward Brady III of the Stratford offices of Coyne, von Kühn, Brady & Fries.

Novo, though, demanded a search warrant and denied the officers further access to the house because they did not have a warrant, according to Brady. That is when the officers got rough with Novo, according to allegations in the May 2018 lawsuit.

“There was a confrontation between my client and the officers,” Brady told the Connecticut Law Tribune on Tuesday. “She says, 'Get out of the house,' and the officers said no and that they will allow her daughter to get her belongings. There is then a verbal escalation (occurred) between my client and the officers. The officers then come into the living room and knock over the Christmas tree and kind of tackle my client in order to arrest her.”

The incident occurred in December 2016.

Novo, 55, was charged with breach of peace for her altercation with police and was not charged in connection to the dispute with her daughter. The breach-of-peace charge was later dismissed.

Novo, her attorney said, suffered an injury to her left arm and a tear in her knee of which she had surgery. The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages.

In his mixed 14-page July 12 ruling, U.S. District Judge Victor Bolden of the District of Connecticut dismissed, on government immunity grounds, claims against Danbury Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour of negligent training and supervision. But the judge let the recklessness count remain as well as a count against the city of Danbury of the violation of Novo's state and federal rights.

In ruling to dismiss the count against the police chief, Bolden wrote: “Defendants argue that Chief Ridenhour was not personally involved in the events at issue, and that Ms. Novo has not alleged that the chief created a policy or custom under which unconstitutional practices occurred. … The court agrees.”

Remaining defendants are the city of Danbury and the three city police officers.

Bolden did side with Novo, though, and let the recklessness claim stand.

The judge found Novo alleged the officers “engaged in willful, reckless, and wanton misconduct on the night in question.”

“Defendants argued that Ms. Novo's recklessness claim fails as a matter of law because Ms. Novo has not explicitly described the conduct at issue and has relied on the same facts for both her negligence and recklessness claims,” he ruled. “The court disagrees.”

The judge found Novo “has set out explicit facts that, if true, might sustain a cause for recklessness.”

“These allegations include the officers' failure to maintain a proper distance, remain calm, or warn Ms. Novo that they were going to physically contact her; and the physical conduct itself,” he found.

With the case proceeding to possible trial, Brady said, “I am optimistic going forward. I believe in my client and i believe in this case.” The lawsuit was originally filed in Superior Court but, at the request of the defense, was moved to federal court.

Assisting Brady was his colleague, Joseph Walsh.

Representing the defendants was attorney Michael Conroy with Simsbury-based Hassett & George. Conroy did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Neither Ridenhour nor Danbury City Attorney Robert Yamin responded to a request for comment.