[July 22, 2011] Plainville Child Porn Suspect Arraigned Tweet Jul 22, 2011 (The Hartford Courant - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A Southington man who was shot by police during his arrest on a child pornography charge was arraigned Friday in Superior Court in Bristol. Erik Gothberg grimaced in pain as his wheelchair was being rolled into the courtroom of Judge Bernard Gaffney. His bail was reduced to $75,000 and his case was transferred to Superior Court in Hartford. His next court date is Aug. 16. Gothberg's lawyer, Jeremiah O'Connor, said his client, who has a Ph.D. in environmental science, is an environmental engineer and part of the security staff at Uretek in New Haven. He also is a 27-year military veteran, O'Connor said, who currently holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves. Gothberg did two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. O'Connor said his client fully cooperated with Southington police. He also told the judge that Gothberg's statement to police has "in large part been corroborated by the victim in the case." Gothberg told police that he had discovered the videos of the teen on her cell phone, according to the warrant. He believed she was making the videos and sending them to her boyfriend, it states. He talked to her about them but forgot to delete them, he told investigators. In addition to asking for lower bail, O'Connor also asked that his client get medical attention in jail for his foot. Gothberg, 45, was shot in the foot shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday in a movie theater parking lot as police were trying to arrest him, police have said. He spent most of the week in the hospital. Police decided to confront him in the parking lot Saturday morning because some text messages that he sent to his wife shortly after she told police that he had child pornography were a "concern," police said. Gothberg reached toward the waistband of his pants as police approached, they said, and they fired, hitting him in the foot. Two police officers who were arriving at the scene were also injured when police opened fire on Gothberg. Officer Clifford Roper was shot in the forearm, police said. Officer David Slater was cut by glass from a car window that was shot out, authorities said. The unusual sequence of events began Thursday in Southington. According to the affidavit for Gothberg's arrest, his wife, Lisa Gothberg, called police after she looked into a gym bag that he almost always carried with him. Inside, she found computer equipment, a gun and pornographic videos. A computer thumb drive inside the bag contained videos portraying a young teen-aged girl in sexually provocative poses. Lisa Gothberg went to a relative's home in Berlin and called police. Berlin and Southington police began an investigation and obtained a warrant for Erik Gothberg's arrest on Friday. Then Southington police were told about text messages that Gothberg was sending to his wife, who had filed for divorce in March. The messages were sufficiently alarming that when Southington police learned that Gothberg was going to be at the AMC Loews movie theater on Friday night, they called the Plainville police for help. Officers were then dispatched to the theater. "There was enough concern about the text messages for us to act quickly," said Sgt. Lowell DePalma, a Southington police spokesman. State police are investigating the shooting. Sgt. Timothy Mullaney and Cpl. Jon Eno fired at Gothberg; Roper and Slater were wounded when they arrived, police said. Plainville police Chief Matthew Catania said that Roper and Slater had been released from the hospital and that all four officers had been placed on administrative duty while the investigation is conducted. Authorities said that a .45-caliber slug was lodged in Roper's arm. In a brief account of the incident released by state police, Plainville officers went to the theater and saw Gothberg walking toward his car. When they tried to arrest him, he appeared to reach toward the waistband of his pants, and the officers opened fire. Police knew that Gothberg owned guns, according to the affidavit. But no weapon was found after the shooting, police said. Catania said that police were still piecing together what happened. "I don't get the sense that this was a matter of confusion, but I also don't know yet how it all came together," Catania said. Gothberg has had other dealings with the criminal justice system. He formerly worked for the state Department of Environmental Protection. State and federal investigations in 2004 questioned gifts and that he and another DEP employee, Benedict Yorke Jr., received from Earth Technology Inc., an environmental contractor. Earth Technology received $1 million in state contracts for emergency spill cleanups from the unit where Gothberg and Yorke worked. Then-Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a report that the company did site and foundation work for Gothberg's Southington home valued at $49,565, but that it was not clear if Gothberg ever paid for it. The disposition of the case could not be determined Monday. In 2003, Gothberg was honored for his service in Iraq while with the Army National Guard. He served with the Connecticut Army National Guard until transferring to the army reserve in about 2005. The last time that Plainville police shot a suspect was in January 2010, when officers wounded a man who had been vandalizing cars and approached officers with a hammer. ------ We tell you what's happening, when it happens, for FREE: Sign-up for : Text NEWS to 37798 * Subscribe to our Try the * You may receive up to 8 messages per day. Text STOP to 37798 to end subscription. 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