A screen shot from a GoFundMe page.
DERBY — City officials are trying to figure out whether a motorcycle club improperly used part of a building on Burtville Avenue as its headquarters.
Complicating the issue is the fact that Carlo Sarmiento, Derby’s building official and zoning enforcement officer, is a member of the motorcycle club.
For months, Sarmiento has been the subject of a whisper campaign in the form of numerous anonymous letters that have been sent to Derby government, police, state liquor control, and the media alleging the Punishers Law Enforcement Club Central Connecticut, a pro-police/emergency responder group, set up an “illegal” bar and motorcycle club within a rented garage bay on Burtville Avenue.
The allegation is that Sarmiento, who, as zoning enforcement officer, is responsible for looking into such zoning complaints, allowed this to happen because his buddies were involved.
The Valley Indy emailed Sarmiento Wednesday for comment.
Sarmiento has enlisted the help of prominent land-use attorney Dominick Thomas to help him navigate any legal waters he may encounter.
And he may need Thomas, because on Tuesday the matter was listed for discussion at a public meeting of the Derby Planning & Zoning Commission, whose members were scheduled to discuss the anonymous zoning violation allegation The Punishers: namely, that a motorcycle club can’t have a clubhouse there.
That made the issue public.
The complaint included numerous photographs (some taken in 2019) allegedly showing the interior of the garage bay being used as a Punisher clubhouse, complete with bar and pool table. Two city employees can be seen in the photos, too, not including Sarmiento.
The same P&Z agenda also listed an executive session discussion of “ZEO employment.”
However, the meeting was canceled.
An agenda from Tuesday’s canceled meeting.
Sarmiento, by the way, doesn’t own the property. A limited liability company not connected to him has owned the building for years. He’s just a public official and a member of the club that has been using the space.
The situation is causing internal strife within Derby City Hall, where the issue is being handled as both a zoning complaint and a potential personnel issue.
Some members of the P&Z want the issue separate, with the P&Z looking into the zoning violation and Mayor Rich Dziekan’s office handling any personnel issues.
Andrew Baklik, Mayor Rich Dziekan’s chief of staff, said it’s likely that another P&Z meeting will be scheduled in two weeks to delve into the matter.
“The Attorney representing Carlo requested an extension of the hearing which was granted on the evening of July 20,” Baklik said in an email Wednesday. “The zoning complaint will likely be addressed at a special meeting in two weeks. The personnel portion is a little more tricky, but there is no clear way to separate the two issues. We are working that out with corporation counsel and hope to have clear answers in advance of the special meeting of P&Z.”
Baklik said the P&Z discussion will probably involve Milone & MacBroom (Derby’s engineering firm) and the city’s corporation counsel.
Presumably, they, along with input from Thomas, will have to sort out what’s happening (or happened) at the property, and whether the activity complies (or complied) with zoning regulations.
Ted Estwan, the chairman of the Derby P&Z, declined comment.
The garage is in a residential zone but is an industrial, grandfathered use.
Thomas told The Valley Indy Wednesday that there are currently no zoning violations taking place at the property. He said he looks forward to discussing the zoning issue with Derby officials to straighten out whatever needs to be straightened out.
Thomas said people are allowed to gather in places with motorcycles and have a beer. He likened it to friends getting together in a driveway at a private residence. However, if beer is sold, that’s an issue, Thomas said.
Thomas said The Punishers have been mainly using the location to work on motorcycles.
The Punishers raise money for charity and have participated in charity rides to bring awareness to a variety of causes, including suicide prevention. They were present at the most recent Sept. 11 ceremony on the Derby Green to show support for the community.
They’re not an “outlaw” biker group (as opposed to the Diablos Motorcycle Club, who had/have a clubhouse on Hawkins Street in Derby across from Over the Hill Tavern, which is out of business).
A GoFundMe page went online Tuesday titled “Protect Chef,” presumably a reference to Sarmiento, who’s known for his barbecue skills. A screen shot of the page was shared on The Punishers’ Facebook page.
The goal is to raise $10,000 for legal expenses. About $1,100 had been raised as of 3 p.m. Wednesday
“We and one of our members are being bullied by some people that think we will bow down!!!,” the post reads. “We will not!!! There are people that are coming after us and one of our brothers. We the PUNISHERS are a group of law enforcement officers and first responders that raise monies for charitable organizations. Some people in derby are trying to shut us down for no reason!!!!”
“This anti cop agenda needs to stop. We have retained the services of an attny to assist us. All monies raised above our attny costs will be donated to a local charity,” it concludes.
Last month a Derby resident wrote a letter to the Derby Police Commission asking about The Punishers. The letter writer questioned whether Derby police officers were connected to the group. The writer said the group’s logo, which references ‘The Punisher,’ a fictional comic book vigilante, represents a ‘serious misunderstanding of police and their role.’
(The man who co-created “The Punisher” for Marvel Comics has repeatedly said law enforcement shouldn’t embrace Punisher iconography because it symbolizes the failure of the justice system.)
Derby Police Chief Gerald Narowski responded to the resident in writing, saying Derby police are not affiliated with The Punishers — and that they want to distance themselves from group.
“No members of the Derby Police Department are members of this “law enforcement club/gang” or any other MC club that I am aware of,” Narowski wrote. “In fact, the only city employee or Derby first responder that I know is affiliated with that group is the current building official.
“I do find it troubling that this group represents themselves as law enforcement and that the public inference is that they are somehow affiliated with or are representatives of the Derby Police Department. The implication that the police are “punishers” goes against our core values as an organization. In times when we see the layers of trust continue to erode between the police and the public and we will do anything we can to distance ourselves from these types of groups,” the chief of police said.
