Wallingford
police sergeant fired over alleged cover up
WALLINGFORD — A police sergeant and 13-year
department veteran has been fired over allegations that she tried to cover up
misconduct.
Officials said she directed a rookie to embark on a
dangerous chase last fall with the operator of a motor scooter and then hid and
manipulated cruiser recordings to cover it up.
Police Chief Douglas Dortenzio terminated Linda
Lopresto after an investigation into the Sept. 30, 2011 incident revealed she
had ordered a rookie officer to follow a scooter operator after a minor traffic
violation. According to a termination letter from Dortenzio dated March 6,
Lopresto directed the rookie on an “improper and life threatening pursuit,” in
the Hall Avenue area, tried to conceal the pursuit by switching and backdating
cruiser recordings and lied to investigators.
Lopresto could not be reached for comment.
According to town Personnel Director Terence
Sullivan, Lopresto is appealing her termination. Lopresto’s contract allows her
a three-step appeal process, Sullivan said. She is being represented by AFSCME
Council 15 attorney Richard Gudis, who could not be reached for comment.
If Sullivan upholds Dortenzio’s decision, the
matter goes to mediation and arbitration. The last time a police officer was
fired was in 2009, Sullivan said.
“The issue is pending at my step,” Sullivan said.
According to Dortenzio, police brass was not aware
of the incident until Nov. 30 when another employee who was not involved
brought it to management.
Lopresto was assigned to supervise a rookie officer
whose cruiser was equipped with a recording system that records both audio and
video when the cruiser’s emergency lights are switched on, Dortenzio writes.
Management sought the DVD recording for the date of the pursuit. An internal
investigator found that, according to the label, Lopresto put the DVD into use
on Sept. 22 and it was taken out of service by another sergeant on Oct. 5.
Upon viewing, the investigator found no activity
for Sept. 30.
“In short the recording of the pursuit of Sept. 30,
as well as any activity for the prior eight days, was missing even though the
labeling of the existing DVD’s did not denote any gap in recording dates,”
Dortenzio states.
The rookie officer confirmed the motor scooter
chase in a Dec. 6 interview and told investigators Lopresto instructed him not
to radio the pursuit to the communications center as is required.
Lopresto initially denied that anything unusual
happened on Sept. 30 and said Officer Bradley Reed tried to stop a car. When
told the pursuit involved a motor scooter and not a car, Lopresto said she told
the officer to turn off his lights and siren.
Other details of Lopresto’s account were
contradicted, Dortenzio stated and it was later determined that she couldn’t
have initiated a new DVD on Sept. 22 because she was out of town on training.
Internal investigators determined Lopresto removed the DVD on the same morning
as the pursuit and backdated a new one to Sept. 22.
“There is no allowance by policy, nor is there any
legitimate purpose for backdating a DVD,” Dortenzio said. “The backdating on
Sept. 30 constituted a deliberate concealment of the recording of that date and
the prior eight days.”
Lopresto later presented the missing DVD, according
to Dortenzio.
Lopresto was represented at a pre-disciplinary
conference on March 2 by Sgt. Joseph Cafasso, president of AFSME Council 15,
Local 1570. Cafasso could not be reached for comment.
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a
permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.
