Man Draws Five Motor Vehicle Charges From Wasserman Way Incident

Following an incident on Wasserman Way on the afternoon of Friday, December 22, police arrested a local man on five motor vehicle charges, requiring that he make an appearance in Danbury Superior Court for arraignment before a judge.

Police said they saw motorist Kevin Fitzgerald, 46, of 21 Berkshire Road, Sandy Hook, driving a vehicle recklessly eastward on Wasserman Way at about 2:30 pm.

Police said that Fitzgerald later told them that he was driving to his home based on a report that there were some suspicious people there. Police noted that they were responding to that same report when they encountered Fitzgerald driving recklessly on Wasserman Way.

Police said they attempted to stop Fitzgerald.

Police said they issued Fitzgerald a misdemeanor summons at his home on charges of reckless driving, improper passing, disobeying the signal of an officer to stop, and two counts of failure to obey a traffic control signal. Police said they made the arrest without incident and released Fitzgerald from custody at his home. Five police cars reportedly responded to the scene.

Fitzgerald’s home is across Berkshire Road from Newtown High School.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe declined to provide any further details on the incident. He declined to disclose whether there was a problem with suspicious people at Fitzgerald’s residence, pointing out that even if that were the case, such circumstances would not warrant Fitzgerald driving recklessly to get home.

“We’re not going to make further comments,” Chief Kehoe said. Fitzgerald is scheduled to appear in court on January 10 on the motor vehicle charges.

Fitzgerald is currently on probation in connection with a gunfire incident that occurred at his residence last March 31.

Last July in court, Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to one of three criminal charges then pending against him stemming from that March incident, in which he fired a rifle near his home. That incident spurred a burst of police activity in the area and prompted lockdown status at the high school and other local schools.

Police had responded to a call informing them that Fitzgerald was handling a rifle across the street from the high school.

Following that incident, Fitzgerald faced charges of second degree reckless endangerment, unlawful discharge of a firearm, and second degree breach of peace stemming from his firing a Marlin .30-30 rifle near his home. Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to unlawful discharge of a firearm and the other charges were dropped.

A judge fined Fitzgerald $15, gave him a three-month suspended jail sentence, and placed him on one-year probation during which time he must not possess any firearms. If Fitzgerald violates the terms of his probation, he would face the possibility of serving three months in jail.