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Derby police union Vice President Frank DeAngelo, former Derby Police Officer Jordan Gochros, and John Miller, a lawyer representing Gochros at a meeting of the Derby Police Commission Jan. 29, 2018.
A Derby police officer resigned from the force Monday after a three-hour, closed-door hearing before the city’s Police Commission.
Officer Jordan Gochros had been suspended without pay since last August, when New Haven police charged him with three misdemeanors in connection to a domestic incident during which he allegedly hit a woman.
The Police Commission voted unanimously to accept Gochros’ resignation effective immediately Monday.
The commission’s lawyer, David Zabel, said he’ll write a formal agreement finalizing the resignation for the commissioners to approve at their regular meeting next month.
In the written agreement, Gochros, a Derby police officer since 2002, will agree to release the police department and city from any liability, he said. There are no other terms.
A lawyer who represented Gochros at Monday’s hearing, John Miller, declined to comment after the meeting, as did Frank DeAngelo, the vice president of Derby’s police union.
After his arrest last year, Gochros was subject to an internal affairs investigation, the results of which were shared Monday with the police commissioners in “executive session.”
Executive sessions are closed to the public. They are allowed under certain circumstances, such as when discussing a specific employee.
Gochros had the right for the meeting to happen in public, but opted through his lawyer for it to happen out of the public’s view.
Mayor Rich Dziekan attended the beginning of Monday’s meeting but left after the commission voted to enter executive session.
After about three hours, the commission reconvened and voted without discussion to accept Gochros’ resignation.
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Derby Police Commissioners Thomas Lenart, Andrew Mancini, Sam Pollastro, and David Zabel, a lawyer working for the commission.
The Valley Indy requested access to the internal affairs report Friday morning, and reached out to the officer through social media.
In response to the request, Police Chief Gerald Narowski said Gochros has up to nine days to object to the release of the investigation. The report is a public document.
Narowski and Sam Pollastro, the chairman of the police commission, declined to comment after Monday’s meeting.
The state’s online judicial database indicates Gochros’ criminal case is within the court’s family violence program. If defendants complete the program successfully, a judge will usually dismiss criminal charges.
The court calendar indicates the criminal charges could be resolved May 29.
