DANBURY – A veteran police officer with a history of
excessive force complaints has been fired by the mayor after the officer was
accused of injuring a young man on Main Street while he was in handcuffs.
The officer, Daniel Sellner, was fired on Jan. 14 after an
internal investigation of the latest incident, which happened in August.
Sellner can also be seen in separate You Tube videos unrelated
to the most recent incident treating a young man in a holding cell roughly and
threatening a motorist at a city gas station.
“I expect that all police officers act professionally, treat
all persons with dignity and respect, (and) refrain from threatening persons
with arrest or use of force simply because they appear to disrespect an
officer,” Mayor Mark Bougton wrote to the officer in a letter of termination.
“Your actions and these violations indicate you are either unwilling or unable
to carry out the duties of a police officer in accordance with the high
standards expected of the Danbury Police Department.
Sellner, who plans to appeal, is the second police officer
in as many years to be fired by Boughton for violating the police department’s
professional standards.
In 2013, police officer Chris Belair was fired after a
threatening and profanity-laced tirade directed against an undocumented
immigrant.