In late April 2015, a town police department sergeant and a civilian dispatcher at the Newtown Emergency Communications Center, which dispatches police, fire, and ambulance calls, were arrested on federal felony drug trafficking charges, involving the manufacture and distribution of anabolic steroids.

A federal indictment listed eight drug and money laundering charges against sergeant Steven Santucci, 39, of Waterbury, and lodged one drug charge against dispatcher Jason Chickos, 46, of Bridgeport. Both men quit their jobs after their arrests.

Federal authorities state that Santucci headed a drug ring of 12 men, that he was receiving shipments of steroid ingredients from China, and manufacturing and distributing wholesale quantities of steroids. The investigation also revealed that certain members of the conspiracy were distributing prescription pills, including oxycodone, as well as cocaine.

Initially, Santucci and Chickos pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. Late in 2015, however, both men changed their pleas to guilty. Chickos, who is scheduled for sentencing on January 11, is facing a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison. Santucci, who is slated to be sentenced on March 3, faces a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison.

Federal investigators state that Santucci, who was hired as a police officer in 2000 and was promoted to the rank of sergeant in early 2012, was involved in drug trafficking from 2009 to 2015.

Chief’s Departure

In early June, Police Chief Michael Kehoe, 60, who has worked as town police officer since 1978, announced that he would retire from his post on January 6, 2016.

Chief Kehoe has headed the police department since 1999. In 2001, the Police Commission promoted Mr Kehoe to the rank of police chief.

Soon after Chief Kehoe announced his retirement, the Police Commission named itself as a search committee to find a new chief.

In early October, the commission announced that after reviewing 10 applications for the job, it had selected James Viadero, 56, of Sandy Hook, to become the police department’s fifth police chief.

Mr Viadero had served as a Newtown Police Commission member for five years, resigning from the commission in mid-2014 when he became Middlebury’s police chief. Before taking the Middlebury post, Mr Viadero had worked as a Bridgeport police officer for 29 years.

Rebong Case Resolved

In November, in US District Court in New Haven, a Danbury man pleaded not guilty to three criminal charges alleging that he murdered a Newtown man in Danbury, in January 2000.

Alex Garcia, 37, pleaded not guilty to the charges in connection with the death of Mark Rebong, a 28-year-old Newtown man, who was fatally shot while driving to work on Interstate 84. Garcia has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of murder, assault, and a firearms offense. Garcia is currently imprisoned on several convictions.

The Rebong murder was long considered a case in which the investigative leads had gone “cold.”

Garcia, in seeking to improve his standing as a member of the Latin Kings crime gang, mistakenly shot the wrong man, according to federal officials, who say that Mr Rebong was neither a member of a gang, nor engaged in any criminal activity.

Motor Vehicle Stops

In April, a statistical report on statewide traffic enforcement showed that during a 12-month period, Newtown police had the highest “rate” of motor vehicle stops of any municipal police department in the state.

The study found that Newtown police made 452 motor vehicle stops for every 1,000 town residents who are age 16 and over.

That information was part of a traffic enforcement study produced by the Institute For Municipal and Regional Policy. The state hired that firm to analyze traffic enforcement data submitted by state police, municipal police, and university police to learn the extent of racial profiling by police in making motor vehicle stops. The study also contained much other traffic information.

About one-half of the Newtown motor vehicle stops were speed-related. Newtown police made more than 9,400 motor vehicle stops during the 12-month period.

According to the statistics, of those 9,400 motorists stopped in Newtown, 2 percent received misdemeanor summonses, 25 percent got infractions, 46 percent received written warnings, and 26 percent got verbal warnings.

Other towns in this area with high motor vehicle stop rates by municipal police are Ridgefield and Redding, with stop rates of 407 and 365, respectively. Shelton police had the lowest stop rate among municipal police departments in the state, with a rate of 19. Police make such vehicular stops after they observe motor vehicle violations occur.

Police Commission As Traffic Authority

During 2015, the Police Commission, which is the local traffic authority, often discussed the public safety hazards posed by Main Street flagpole intersection.

That intersection has the second-highest accident rate of any location in town, according to a police statistical report for calendar years 2012 through 2014.

Recently, the Police Commission hired a traffic engineering firm to perform a traffic study on the flagpole intersection and to suggest some solutions for the troublesome junction.

The commission is slated to discuss the results of that traffic study on January 5 (see related story).

In May, about 30 residents attended an informational session sponsored by DOT on its plans to make a variety of improvements to the Exit 11 interchange of Interstate 84 and surrounding roadways. The changes are intended to alleviate traffic backups in the often-congested area and to reduce motor vehicle accidents.

The planned improvements in the Exit 11 area include road widenings, roadway realignments, the expansion of intersections, access improvements, and sight line enhancements.

Construction is tentatively scheduled to start in early 2019 and be complete by 2021 or 2022.

Residents who are concerned about speeding in the neighborhoods often lodge their complaints with the Police Commission.

In late 2015, a group of Pearl Street area residents urged police to heighten speed enforcement on Pearl Street, which links Washington Avenue to Philo Curtis Road.

Pearl Street’s location results in some motorists using that road as a route to bypass traffic congestion on the section of Berkshire Road near Newtown High School.

Some Pearl Street area residents are urging the Police Commission to have the broad speed bumps known as “speed tables” installed on the street to curb the speeding problem.

In 2015, the town increased from two to four the number of speed tables on Key Rock Road. Also, after Queen Street was repaved in October, the town reconstructed the five speed tables which have located there for the past several years.

Firehouses

During 2015, two local volunteer fire companies were building new and improved quarters.

After many years of seeking a new firehouse to hold its emergency vehicles, the Newtown Hook & Ladder Volunteer Fire Company started construction on a new firehouse on a three-acre parcel at 12 Church Hill Road. When completed, the 16,000-square-foot structure, which will be owned by the fire company, will replace the town-owned, structurally unsound firehouse at 45 Main Street, now used by Hook & Ladder.

Also, work started on the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company’s fire substation expansion project at 249 Berkshire Road. The project will add two garage bays to the building.

Hook & Ladder and Sandy Hook are two of the five local volunteer fire companies.