Date: Fri 26-Mar-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Lights-out-memo-myth-hoax

Full Text:

Alarming DOC Memo Is A Hoax

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A mythical urban legend, which has been exposed as a hoax on the Internet for

years, has found its way into Newtown in the form of a state Department of

Correction (DOC) memorandum on crime gang tactics.

In the March 8 memo, Garner Correctional Institution Warden Giovanny Gomez

warns Garner correction officers that crime gangs are initiating new members

by requiring them to drive at night without their headlights and then shoot at

the first car which flashes its headlights at them.

The warden's memo found its way into circulation in Newtown in recent days,

reaching everyone from the first selectman to St Rose school children.

A report on the headlights myth was published in January 1994 in The Boston

Globe. The rumor got so out of control in Massachusetts five years ago, the

state police issued a bulletin notifying law enforcement agencies that the

story was false.

In recent months, stories exposing the headlight flashing myth have appeared

in newspapers across the country including publications in Texas, New Jersey,

Florida, North Carolina, California, Michigan, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

DOC spokeswoman Christina Polce said "It should not have been released to the

general public," adding the memo was intended only for DOC use and should not

have been provided to the town government and local schools.

The DOC obtained the information from the Middlesex County Sheriff's

Department, Ms Polce said.

Middlesex County High Sheriff Joseph Bibisi said Wednesday the information

came out of the Middletown public school system. A special deputy sheriff who

had learned of it through the Middletown schools then informed the DOC, Mr

Bibisi said. The DOC then circulated the information throughout the state

prison system.

Police Chief James E. Lysaght, Jr, said "This information may be somewhat

dated and may not be accurate in our environment in Newtown."

Chief Lysaght said a reference to a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)

police officer in the memo doesn't apply to the Newtown DARE officer. "Our

DARE officer had nothing to do with this," the chief said.

Newtown DARE officer Douglas Wisentaner said he first learned of the memo

after a copy of it was placed on his desk by another police officer who had

gotten it at Newtown Shopping Village on Queen Street.

School Superintendent John Reed said that after the schools received a copy of

the memo, he contacted police about it. Police told him the matter was "much

ado about nothing," he said.

Police Detective Robert Tvardzik said he heard the information about headlight

flashing several years ago, but such a situation has never occurred in

Newtown.

"It's created some paranoia...It's caused some confusion and alarm... It's

caused some concern," he said. Of the memo, he said "We don't endorse it. We

didn't send it."

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal said his office received a copy of the memo

from a correction officer. A check into the memo's content showed that it was

unfounded, the first selectman said.

The warden's memo also warns that drug users are placing their used hypodermic

needles in the coin return slots of pay telephones. People who check for

change in those telephones are being pricked by the needles and infected with

HIV, hepatitis and other diseases, the memo adds.

Police said they have been unable to confirm the validity of this report

either. There have been no reports of such incidents in Newtown.