The Shelton police officer who was fired last week plans to file a grievance and fight the discipline, his attorney said Tuesday.
“The charges have no merit and we will fight it,” said Chip Walsh, a union attorney representing fired police officer Loren Casertano. “And I’m confident we will be successful.”
Casertano was fired Friday, after an internal affairs investigation determined he had “multiple, serious violations of the department rules and regulations,” Police Chief Joel Hurliman said Monday.
Hurliman wouldn’t name the violations.
Walsh said Tuesday the department fired Casertano based on claims he violated the duty manual with conduct unbecoming an officer, being untruthful during and investigation, among others.
The internal affairs investigation started in 2008, when Casertano was charged by state police for fifth-degree larceny.
The Shelton Police Department claimed Casertano had tried to extort money from his daughter’s friend after his daughter had her iPod stolen.
Casertano denied the charges — and was planning to fight them at a trial when he suddenly decided to apply for a special form of probation for first-time offenders.
His lawyer at the time said the decision was made to save time and money on a trial.
Casertano has said the larceny arrest, and a subsequent arrest for allegedly fabricating evidence, were retaliation from the department because Casertano was trying to expose corruption.
Casertano has filed ethics complaints and a federal lawsuit against Chief Hurliman over the fight.
Each side says the other is making false complaints.
“The department is looking forward to putting this behind us and moving forward,” Hurliman said Monday. “He has made a lot of baseless complaints.”
On Tuesday, Walsh said the department lacked “factual substantiation to issue this kind of discipline.”
“It seems pretty clear to me from the manner by which the investigation was conducted and the manner in which the chief has conducted himself throughout the process, that it was their goal to terminate Officer Casertano,” Walsh said.
“And I believe in trying to achieve that goal, the investigation and the charges were handled in a shoddy manner,” he said.
Walsh said the grievance will be filed with the department, and will likely be brought before the state Board of Mediation and Arbitration for a hearing.
He expected the union president to file the grievance this week.
