Seymour Police Pursuit Investigation

7/28/2019 Seymour Police Pursuit Investigation

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SEYMOUR POLICE DEPARTM ENT11 Franklin StreetSeymour, Connecticut 06484-2891

To: Chief Michael E. MetzlerFrom: Lt. Paul J. SatkowskiDate: 12-26-12Subject: Internal Investigation #12-08LA. Cn{ D- 9882R.F. CN t2-2636Concluding Report

Incident:A fatal Motor Vehicle Accident occurred in the Town of Oxford, Connecticut on the evening ofMarch 09,2012. Prior to the accident Officer Anthony Renaldi #330 was attempting toeffectuate a motor vehicle stop on the vehicle prior to it crashing. The Connecticut State PoliceCollision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad conducted an investigation into the accident. Theconcluding report from the State Police was completed and forwarded to your office. After aninitial review by you it was determined that an Internal Affairs investigation would be conductedto review the entire incident and some possible "inconsistencies" with Officer Anthony Renaldi'sinvolvement.Investigation:As part of this investigation interviews were conducted with each Seymour Police Officerworking the third shift (11:00 P.M. - 07:00 A.M.) on the evening of March A9,2012.An interview was conducted with Officer Michael Fappiano. Officer Fappiano stated amongstother things he reported for duty at the Seymour Police Department on the night of March 09,2012 to work his normal assigned shift for work which would be the 1i :00P.M. - 07:00 A.M.(Midnight shift). Officer Fappiano stated after ro11 call he was assigned to the East side patrolsector. After conducting several business checks he parked his police vehicle in the parking lotof the Guerra's Sandwich shop located on New haven Rd (Rte 67) to monitor traffic. Shortlybefore 12:00 A.M. Officer Fappiano heard Officer Anthony Renaldi call in to policeHeadquarters something to the effect he was attempting to stop a vehicle that was heading intothe Town of Oxford. Officer Fappiano stated he then left Guerra's Sandwich shop and started todrive more towards the center of town in case he was needed for back up. Officer Fappianostated he at first drove to the Seymour Pawn Shop and then to the Mobil Station on the SeymourOxford town iine in case he was needed as a back- up Officer. Officer Fappiano stated he was atthe Mobil gas station when he heard Officer Renaldi call in to dispatch that he located thevehicle in Oxford which had become involved in a crash on Old State Rd. Officer Fappianostated he then drove to the crash site on Old State Rd. where he stayed for only a short time(approximately twenty minutes) to assist as needed. Officer Fappiano stated he heard OfficerRenaldi's radio transmissions which were loud and clear. Officer Fappiano stated he was nevernear Officer Renaldi during this incident meaning he never had eye sight of his vehicle. Officer

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Telephone (203) 881-7600 . Fax (203) 881-7616" An Equ al Opportuni.q, Entplol,st' "


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Fappiano stated he does not recall any radio transmissions on the radio prior to this incident.Officer Fappiano stated he thought there was a radio transmission frorn Ofhcer Renaldi that hecannot recall. Officer Fappiano stated that from what he can recall he believes the radiotransmissions from Officer Readily and Officer Michael Jasmin were loud and clear and they didnot encounter any radio problems that night.An interview was conducted with Officer Michael Jasmin. During the interview Officer Jasminrecapped basically what was written in his written report. Officer.Iasmin stated amongst otherthings he reported to duty at the Seymour Police Department on the night of March 09,2072 towork his normal assigned shift which would be the 11:00 P.M. - 7:00 A.M. (Midnight shift).Officer Jasmin stated he was on routine patrol on Mountain Rd. when he heard shorlly beforemidnight Officer Anthony Renaldi state he was attempting to "catch up" to a silver coloredMustang heading into Oxford. Officer Jasmin stated he started heading in that direction toprovide assistance to Officer Renaldi as a back-up Officer. Officer Jasmin stated he remembersOfficer Renaldi stating something about Tommy K's Plaza but does not recall exactly what wassaid. Officer Jasmin stated he never had contact or eyesight on Officer Renaldi or the Mustangbecause they were ahead of him in Oxford. Officer Jasmin stated the next transmission he couldrecall was that Offrcer Renaldi stated something to the effect he was out on Old State Rd. A fewminutes later Officer Jasmin arrived on scene to assist Officer Renaldi.Once on scene Officer Jasmin observed the silver colored Mustang flipped over. Offrcer Renaldiwas assessing the scene of the accident. Officer Jasmin stated he then began to take pictureswith his department camera to document the scene as Fire and EMS personnel began to arrive onscene. Officer Jasmin stated he heard everything that Officer Renaldi transmitted via the policeradio system was loud and clear for him to follow. Officer Jasmin stated he does not recallhaving any radio transmission problems during his tour of duty of March 09,2012 beginning at11:00 P.M. and ending at 07:00 A.M. on the morning of March 10,2012. Officer Jasmin statedhe never heard Officer Renaldi "call off the pursuit" and does not really recall anything else thathe already did not mention as denoted above.An interview was conducted with Officer Kevin Miceli. During the interview Offrcer Micelirecapped basically what was written in his written report that he completed. Officer Micelistated amongst other things he worked his regular shift which was the second shift (3:00 P.M.-11:00 P.M.). At 1 1:00 P.M. Officer Miceli stated he was assigned to work department overtimewhich was from 11:00 P.M. - 03:00 A.M. At 11:00 P.M. Offrcer Miceli stated he was assignedto work the dispatch center. Shortly before 12:00 A.M. Officer Miceli stated Officer AnthonyRenaldi called into the dispatch center via his car radio that he was atternpting to "catch up" to asilver Mustang that was heading into the Town of Oxford. Officer Miceli stated he then tried tocontact Connecticut State Police Troop A in Southbury to advise them of the attempted motorvehicle stop. Officer Miceli stated he called Troop A on the "Hotline" radio three to four timesbut did not receive a response from them. Officer Miceli stated he heard Officer Jasmin call intodispatch that he was heading in Officer Renaldi's direction as a back-up Officer. Officer Micelistated Troop A eventually called him back on the "Hotline" radio acknowledging his previoustransmissions. However Officer Miceli was not sure if it was before or after the silver Mustanghad aiready crashed in Oxford. Officer Miceli stated when Troop A called him back via the"Hotline" he heard Officer Renaldi cail something into dispatch but was not exactly sure what he


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was trying to say because he was "stepped on" by the "Hotline" meaning Officer Renaldi's radiotransmission could not be fully understood. Officer Miceli stated the entire incident was over inless than two minutes. Officer Miceli stated Sergeant William King who was the shiftSupervisor at one point came into the dispatch center and inquired about what was going on.Officer Miceli informed Sgt. King Officer Renaldi attempted to catch up to a vehicle in Oxfordwhich was now involved in a motor vehicle accident. Sgt. King then drove to the scene inOxford.Officer Miceli does not recall Officer Renaldi notifying dispatch via his radio that he wasterminating the pursuit. Officer Miceli does not remember Officer Renaldi calling into dispatchthat he was re-engaging the vehicle when he allegedly broke off the attempt. .Officer Miceli onceagain reiterated that he remembers Officer Renaldi calling something in but he could notunderstand what it was that he was trying to s-ay because he was overpowered by the "HotlineRadio" transmissions from Troop A. Officer Miceli believes it is a possibility that this is whenOfficer Renaldi was trying to relay crucial information about the pursuit to the Seymour PoliceDispatch Center. Officer Miceli stated he cannot recall any Officers having any radiotransmission problems the night in question but stated there is a history of radio problems at thePolice Depaftment that are documented and many that are not documented.An interview was conducted with Sergeant William King. During the interview Sgt. Kingrecapped basically what was written in his written report as described in the above paragraph.Sgt. King stated amongst other things he reported to duty at the Seymour Police Deparlment onthe night of March 09,2012 to work patrol overtime starting at 7:00 P.M. Sgt. King was theShift Supervisor from 7:00 P.M. until 11:00 P.M. At l1:00 P.M. Sgt. King states he held rollcall for the midnight shift (11:00 P.M. - 07:00 A M.) which is his norrnal assigned shift. SgtKing was also the shift Supervisor at this time. Sgt. King stated he went over items at roll calland assigned patrol sectors atthat time. Officer Anthony Renaldi was assigned the West sidepatrol. Sgt. King stated after roll call he was in his Office reviewing paperwork when he heard"radio chatter" on the department radio coming from the temporary dispatch center that was setup in the areanear the elevator just outside of the Records Department. Sgt. King stated heheard Officer Renaldi state something to the effect "It's on its back" or something to that effectbut was not sure what he was referring to. Sgt. King stated he then went out to the dispatchcenter and asked Officer Miceli what was going on. Officer Miceli informed Sgt. King OfficerRenaldi attempted to stop a vehicle that went into Oxford and crashed on Old State Rd. Sgt.King stated he then responded to the scene of the accident on Old State Rd.Once on scene at the accident Sgt. King stated he observed a commercial building and a silver orgray Mustang flipped over resting on the sills of the door. Officer Renaldi was trying to renderassistance to the occupants in the car. One passenger was unconscious. Sgt. King stated heevaluated the scene and determined what resources were necessary. He then made notification toLt. Satkowski and apprised him of the situation.Sgt. King stated he does not remember there being any radio transmission problems but statedthere have been sporadic issues in the past with the radios not functioning properly in severalareas throughout the town.


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An interview was conducted with Officer Anthony Renaldi. During the interview OfficerRenaldi recapped basically what was written in his written report as described in the aboveparagraph. Officer Renaldi stated amongst other things he reported to duty at the SeymourPoiice Department on the night of March 09, 2012 to work patrol overtime starting at 7:00 P.M.He then repofied to ro11 call for his regularly assigned shift at 1 1:00 P.M. Officer Renaldi wasassigned West side patrol sector by Sgt. King. After roll call Officer Renaldi stated he went outand conducted checks of the businesses in his patrol sector. After checking the Oxmour Plazalocated off of West St. (Rte 67) Officer Renaldi stated he began to drive to the Klarides VilllageShopping Center to check the businesses in thatplaza. While enroute to Klarides Village OfficerRenaldi observed a silver colored Mustang driving westbound on Bank St. (Rte 67) with brightneon lights illuminated on the exterior of the vehicle. Knowing this to be a violation ofConnecticut law, Officer Renaldi attempted to effectuate a motor vehicle stop on said vehicle.Officer Renaldi then turned his police cruiser around by performing a u-turn in the area ofKlarides Village and attempted to "catch up" to the vehicle to perforrn the motor vehicle stop.Officer Renaldi states as he approached the Oxmour Plaza heading Westbound on West St. (Rte67)he observed the Mustang illegally pass another vehicle at the intersection of Mountain Rd.near the Oxford town line. At this time Officer Renaldi stated he then activated his emergencylights and sirens to pull the vehicle over. However, the vehicle was several hundred feet aheadof his patrol vehicle and continued to pull away. Officer Renaldi stated he cailed into policedispatch via his car radio he was attempting to "catch up" to the silver Mustang and that thevehicle was heading into Oxford. Officer Renaldi stated he w'as never close enough to thevehicle to ascertain the vehicle registration number or the number of occupants that may havebeen in the vehicle.Officer Renaldi further stated that as the vehicle drove into Oxford the road surface was dry, theweather was clear and traffic was virtually non-existent on the roadway. Therefore, he continuedhis effort to stop the vehicle. However, the vehicle continued to drive off at a high rate of speedin order to elude Officer Renaldi. As Officer Renaldi reached the area of Rolando's Restaurantnear the Tommy K's plaza the silver colored Mustang traveled in a non- travel portion of theroadway to get around vehicular traffic that was driving in both directions. Officer Renaldifurther stated as the vehicle drove past West St. in the Town of Oxford the vehicle "blacked out"or tumed off all of its exterior lights on the vehicle. Officer Renaldi stated the vehicle was still agood distance ahead of his vehicle at which time he states he notified Seymour Police dispatchthat he had just passed the Tommy K's Plaza and he was terminating the pursuit due to safetyreasons. Officer Renaldi states at this point he began to decrease his speed and deactivated hislights and sirens on his police vehicle but continued in a forward motion until he couldreasonably and safely slow down to turn around.However, Officer Renaldi states as he was in the process of completing this task he observed"heavy" brake lights in the far distance. Thinking it was the silver Mustang pulling over oranother vehicle that may provide information about the vehicle he was attempting to stop OfficerRenaldi stated he reactivated his lights and sirens and proceeded westbound on Rte 67 to furtherinvestigate the area where he last saw the tail lights of the vehicle. Officer Renaldi continued tostate that as he approached the area where he last saw the tail lights, he now observed headlights.As he proceeded closer Officer Renaldi recognized the headlights to be that of a ConnecticutState Police vehicle located at the intersection of Rte 67 at Old State Rd. Officer Renaldi stated


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as he approached the Trooper's vehicle he turned off his lights and sirens and pulled up next tothe Trooper. Officer Renaldi stated the Trooper appeared to be surprised and asked him "Whatwas that?" Officer Renaldi stated he advised the Trooper he was atternpting to stop a silvercolored Mustang for several motor vehicle violations. After a very brief conversation with theTrooper Officer Renaldi stated he drove down Old State Rd. to look for the vehicle and theTrooper made an immediate right hand turn onto Rte 67 and proceeded to drive to the other endof Old State Rd. Officer Renaldi met up with the Trooper once again without locating thevehicle. Officer Renaldi stated he then turned around and began checking Old State Rd. wherehe located the silver Mustang at its final resting point flipped over on its roof. Officer Renaldistated he immediately notified dispatch and requested ambulance and fire personnel to the scene.Officer Renaldi then began to render aid to the occupants located inside of the silver Mustang.Offrcer Renaldi voiced concern over potential radio transmission problems that may have existedon the night of this incident. Officer Renaldi is adamant he radioed into the Seymour PoliceDispatch Center that he was terminating his attempt to stop the vehicle as he, passed the TommyK's Plaza in Oxford. He stated that although it was never recorded he is certain that he called itin. Officer Renaldi speculates his radio transmission could have been "stepped over by anotherOfficer. Furthermore, Officer Renaldi stated there have been numerous problems with radiotransmissions prior to this incident that are documented from other Officers within the SeymourPolice Department. Officer Renaldi stated these problems include but are not limited to poorreception, intermittent radio communications, or not receiving any radio transmissions at all.Officer Renaldi can only speculate the reason why his radio transmission about terminating thepursuit was not received because of poor radio communications.As part of this investigation I have also reviewed and examined the entire case file and relateddocuments that were supplied to the Seymour Police Department frorn Sergeant William Telford.Sergeant William Telford was the Sergeant in charge of the fatal motor vehicle accidentinvestigation for the Connecticut State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad.Sergeant William Telford completed the final report for this accident investigation which I havereviewed to its entirety. While reviewing the concluding report prepared by Sgt. Telford Iobserved a possible discrepancy in relation to Officer Anthony Renaldi's reporl and Sgt.Telford's conclusion. The discrepancy was whether or not Officer Anthony Renaldi terminatedthe pursuit as denoted in Officer Anthony Renaldi's completed police report.Conclusion:I have reviewed and investigated the totality of the circumstances involving a fatal MotorVehicle Accident which occurred in the Town of Oxford, Connecticut on the evening of March09,2012. Prior to the accident Officer Anthony Renaldi #330 was atternpting to effectuate amotor vehicle stop on the vehicle prior to it crashing. Based on my investigation the followinginformation was learned;l) Officer Anthony Renaldi was on routine patrol checking businesses in his patrol sector.2) Shortly before midnight Officer Renaldi observed a silver colored Mustang operatingwestbound on Rte 67 with neon colored lights affixed to the vehicle in violation ofConnecticut Motor Vehicle law.3) Officer Renaldi turned his patrol vehicle around to investigate further.


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4)

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Officer Renaldi attempted to "catch up" to the Mustang. As Officer Renaldi reached theOxmour Plaza he observed the Mustang illegally pass another vehicle travelingwestboundOfficer Renaldi activated his lights and sirens on his police vehicle in an attempt toeffectuate a motor vehicle stop on the silver Mustang.Officer Renaldi notifies Seymour Police Dispatch of his attempt to stop the vehicle. TheMustang continues to increase speed and continues into the Town of Oxford in an effortto elude Officer Renaldi. A vehicle pursuit ensues at this point.Officer Renaldi is several hundred feet behind the vehicle in question and is not able toobtain any registration information on the vehicle.Desk Officer Kevin Miceli makes several attempts to contact Connecticut State PoliceTroop A Southbury via the "Hotline" radio. At first Troop A does not respond buteveniually does. Simultaneously, Officer Miceli makes phone contact with Troop A andadvises them of the vehicle traveling into the Town of Oxford and the attempted motorvehicle stop by Off,rcer Renaldi.Officer Michael Jasmin hears Officer Renaldi's radio transmissions and starts headingtowards his direction to provide back up for Officer Renaldi. Officer Jasmin is neverclose enough to observe the pursuit or actively become involved with it.10) As the Mustang approaches Rolando's Restaurant and the Tornrny K's Plaza located onRte 67 in the Town of Oxford the Mustang illegally passes another vehicle in anunauthorized travel portion of the road. The operator of the Mustang then "blacks out" orturns off all of the exterior vehicle lights.

11) Officer Renaldi terminates his pursuit as he approaches this same area due to safetyconcerns. He deactivates his lights and sirens and calls into police dispatch. However,this radio transmission is never received or heard by Police dispatch or other Officers.12) After briefly terminating the pursuit Officer Renaldi reengages the pursuit when he

observes "heavy brake lights" in the distance. However, there is no documentation thathe notifies dispatch that he is reengaging. According to Officer Renaldi the "time framewas short and the situation was evolving rapidly" when asked why he did not notifydispatch.

13) Officer Renaldi continues West on Rte 67 and meets up with a Connecticut State Trooperat the intersection of Rte 67 at Old State Rd.

14) Officer Renaldi informs the Trooper of his attempt to stop the Mustang. The Trooperacknowledges the Mustang passed him on Old State Rd at a high rate of speed.

15) Officer Renaldi and the Trooper proceed to look for the vehicle on Old State Rd. Vehiclecannot be located.16) Officer Renaldi turns around and begins searching the area again. Officer Renaldilocates the vehicle in front of a commercial building flipped over on its roof.

l7) Officer Renaldi notifies Seymour Police Dispatch and requests fire and ambulancepersonnel to the scene.18) Officer Kevin Miceli notifies Troop A Southbury of the accident and that hre and

ambulance personnel are needed at the scene of the crash on Old State Rd.19) Sergeant Wiliiam King hears "radio chatter" while in his office reviewing paperwork.

Sgt King inquires with dispatch what is going on.20) Officer Miceli apprises Sgt. King of accident in Oxford. Sgt. King responds to scene.

e)


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21) Officer Jasmin arrives on accident scene in Oxford and provides assistance to OfficerRenaldi. Officer Jasmin also takes photos of the scene.22)Officer Fappiano responds and arrives on accident scene and provides assistance asnecessary.23)Chief Metzler and Lt. Satkowski are advised of situation and respond to scene a shorttime later.24) All seymour Police personnel clear scene of accident a short while later.

25) Connecticut State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad investigated thefatal motor vehicle accident.

26) It was determined through investigation that the pursuit lasted 1 :55 seconds over 1.9miles.27) Atthe conclusion of the accident investigation conducted by the Connecticut State Policethe operator of the silver Mustang (Eric Ramirez) was arrested on several criminal andmotor vehicle violations.

In reviewing this entire incident I found that Officer Michael Fappiano had limited involvement.He responded to the accident scene in Oxford after the silver Mustang had crashed. Uponarriving on scene he assisted as needed and left shortly thereafter.Officer Michael Jasmin was never involved in the pursuit but was merely a back up Officer forOffrcer Renaldi. Officer Jasmin never had any visual contact with the pursuit or Officer Renaldi.Officer Jasmin arrived at the scene of the accident after the vehicle had crashed and providedassistance as needed.Officer Kevin Miceli was working the dispatch center at the Police Department. I found hefollowed policy and procedure as he was trained to do. He immediately notified CSP Troop ASouthbury of the pursuit entering the Town of Oxford. Although they did not answer his radiotransmission right away, he was persistent in notification to them via a telephone call. Witheverything that was going on at the time he notified the shift Supervisor (Sgt. King) aspractically as possible under the circumstances. The pursuit lasted a total of 1 :55 seconds.Sergeant William King was in his office reviewing paperwork. He imrnediately questionedOfficer Miceli what was happening when he overheard radio comrnunications from his Office.When he was apprised of the situation he took the necessary steps as a Supervisor to respond tothe scene, assess the situation and make proper notification to Police Administrators.Therefore, I did not find any violations committed by Sergeant William King, Officer MichaelFappiano or Officer Michael Jasmin.The remainder of this Internal Affairs investigation focused on Off,rcer Anthony Renaldi. Thefirst issue at hand was whether or not he was actively involved in a police pursuit. Throughinvestigation I have determined he was involved in an active police pursuit in an effort to stopthe silver Mustang. Officer Renaldi was within his legal rights as a Police Officer to stop saidvehicle for several motor vehicle violations that he had observed. Although the first violationmay have only been for an equipment violation (illegal lights) he later observed several more


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reckless acts committed by the operator which made the attempt to stop the vehicle more urgent.I found that he followed the Uniform Statewide Pursuit Policy as well as the Seymour PoliceDepartment policy on handling pursuits. According to Officer Renaldi's testimony he took theweather, road conditions, speed, traffic and risk element into consideration in deciding whetheror not to pursue said vehicle. At one point Officer Renaldi stated he briefly terminated thepursuit when tlte vehicle "blacked out" or turned off its exterior vehicle lights.The second item that was reviewed closely was the possible discrepancy of whether or notOfficer Anthony Renaldi actually broke off the pursuit as he stated in his police report that hesubmitted. Officer Renaldi claimed that he called police dispatch and notified them he wasterminating the pursuit. The reported radio transmission recordings terrninating the pursuit werenever captured on the Seymour Police Department audio tape of police transmissions and do notsupport this claim. Also a witness interviewed by the CT State Police stated in a signed swornstatement he observed seeing a police vehicle with its emergency lights flashing traveling behindthe suspect vehicle in the area of Tommy K's Plaza and Rolando's Restaurant. This is the areaOfficer Renaldi stated he terminated the pursuit.While examining this possible discrepancy I listened several times to the Seymour PoliceDepartment audio dispatch tapes. Officer Renaldi's sirens could be heard in the background ofhis transmissions to the dispatch center. Although this is the area where Officer Renaldi stateshe terminated the pursuit it is also the same area where he reactivates his lights and sirens toinvestigate the "heavy brakes lights" he observed in the far distance as denoted in his reporl andinterview. Therefore, depending on the witness location it is reasonable that he briefly observedOfficer Renaldi in the process of deactivating his lights and sirens to tenninate the pursuit butbecause he was traveling in the opposite direction he was focused on the traffic and neverobserved Officer Renaldi reactivate his lights and sirens as Officer Renaldi states in his report.

Furthermore, while listening to the audio transmissions, you can hear Offrcer Renaldi's vehicleengine accelerate loudly in the background as he speaks with police dispatch. You can also hearthe sirens activated. I found the acceleration of the engine to corroborate Officer AnthonyRenaldi's version of events that he slowed down to safely bring his vehicle to a slower speed sohe could safely turn around as he began to terminate his attempt from pursuing the Mustang.However, while in the process he observes a vehicle in the distance and this is when he proceedsforward to investigate the "brake lights" to examine if it was the vehicle he was attempting tostop. If it was a continuous pursuit it is my finding that you would not hear the heavyacceleration of the vehicles engine. The engine would already be at a steady rate of speed if hewas continuously pursuing the vehicle.

I also asked Officer Renaldi in his interview to clarify what he meant when he stated to Sg1.Teiford "The time frame was short and the situation was evolving rapidly". Officer Renaldistated that what he meant by his response was when he observed the "brake lights" in thedistance he reactivated his emergency lights and siren as he approached the scene of where heobserved the taillights in an effort to investigate further and to forewarn any other motorists ofhis police presence in the area but not necessarily to reengage the suspect vehicle.


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As for radio transmissions not being recorded in relation to "terminating the pursuit" OfficerRenaldi attributes the lack of audio radio transmissions to poor radio communication problemswithin the Seymour Police Department. Offrcer Renaldi is adamant he radioed into the SeymourPolice Dispatch Center that he was terminating his attempt to stop the vehicle as he passed theTommy K's Plaza in Oxford. He stated that although it was never recorded he is certain that hecalled it in. Officer Renaldi speculates his radio transmission could have been "stepped over byanother Officer. Furthermore, Officer Renaldi stated there have been numerous problems withradio transmissions prior to this incident that are documented from other Officers within theSeymour Police Department during the last several years. Officer Renaldi stated these problemsinclude but are not limited to poor reception, intermittent radio communications, or not receivingany radio transmissions at all. Officer Renaldi can only speculate the reason why his radiotransmission about terrninating the pursuit was not received was because of poor radiocommunications.In an effort to further investigate Officer Reanldi's accusations of a history of problems withradio communications within the Seymour Police Department a check over the last three yearsprior to March 09, 2012 revealed a long list of Officers documenting radio transmissionproblems. This was also mentioned in my interviews with Officer Kevin Miceli and Sgt.William King stating the sarne concerns.Furlhermore, prior to March 0g,2}l2,the Seymour Board of Selectman and the Seymour Boardof Finance approved monetary funding in the amount of $500,000.00 to replace the SeymourPolice Department communication system because of poor radio transmission problems, costlyrepair bills and the unreliable and antiquated system that was currently in place at the SeymourPolice Department Dispatch Center. In addition, a day or two prior to the night of March 09,2012the Seymour Police Department set up a temporary dispatch center which was housedoutside of the Records Department within the Police Department. This system was in effect untila new communication and dispatch center was installed several weeks later.Therefore, I cannot definitively say that the communication system was working properly on thenight of March 09, 2012 when Officer Renaldi called in to police dispatch that he wasterminating his pursuit. There is a possibility that the system had a momentary failure and didnot capture his transmission when he states he was terminating the pursuit. In my interview withOfficer Kevin Miceli, Officer Miceli stated at one point during this incident he recalled OfficerAnthony Renaldi calling something into dispatch but he could not hear exactly what he wassaying because his transmission was faint and he was possibly being "stepped over" by the"Hotline" radio system.Wherefore, based on the facts that were presented before me during the course of myinvestigation, it is my finding that no administrative action be taken against Officer AnthonyRenaldi as I could not find any violation of policy or procedure surrounding this incident.Respectfully Submi rted,F4/*'J.4*ZL**,,/**=.=Lt. Paul Satkowski #003

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Seymour Police Pursuit Investigation