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John Izzo
DERBY — A member of the Ansonia Board of Education was the subject of a 2016 internal affairs investigation by Derby police after being accused of asking a 15-year-old girl for her cell phone number.
The subject, John Izzo, a former auxiliary Derby police officer, told his superiors he did not ask the girl for her phone number and that the incident was a miscommunication, according to a redacted copy of the 2016 internal affairs report.
Izzo resigned from his volunteer position before he could be disciplined, saying he didn’t want to embarrass himself or the department, according to the report.
The 2016 issue resurfaced Friday (July 19) when Derby Police Chief Gerald Narowski sent an email briefing city leaders on the issue.
In the email, Narowski alleges Izzo, who was elected to the school board in neighboring Ansonia in November 2015, has attempted to use local political connections to get reinstated as an auxiliary police officer in Derby.
Narowski attached the redacted internal affairs report to his email.
“I wanted everyone to be aware of this because it is a matter of public concern and public safety,” Narowski said in the email, a copy of which was obtained by The Valley Indy.
Izzo, though attorney Dominick Thomas, who represented him on matters involving the Ansonia Board of Education, declined to comment on the matter.
Izzo, a Republican, does not intend to seek re-election to the Ansonia Board of Education. Republicans were scheduled to nominate candidates July 23. His term expires at the end of the year.
The 2016 Internal Affairs Report
Izzo was a Derby auxiliary police officer until 2016, when he was the subject of the internal affairs investigation.
An internal affairs investigation is not the same as a criminal investigation. Police officers and other public servants can be disciplined or fired for a wide array of allegations that are not criminal.
Auxiliary police officers are volunteers who help at events. They do not carry weapons or have the power to arrest.
Derby police launched the internal affairs investigation after Izzo was accused on Nov. 11, 2016 of asking a 15-year-old girl for her cell phone number after talking to three girls while working a Derby High School football game as a Derby auxiliary police officer.
One girl, according to a parent who talked to police, said Izzo wanted to exchange text messages with her, and told her she could delete those text messages if need be.
The girls were interviewed by police. One said she remembered Izzo telling them he thought one of the girls was pretty, and that he seemed to be focusing on one girl in particular. Two of the girls said they did not hear him ask one of the girl’s for her cell number as they had walked away, out of earshot, according to the internal affairs report.
According to the report, Izzo told police he had asked the girls their names to be friendly but never asked a girl for her phone number. He characterized the incident as a miscommunication, according to the internal affairs report. Izzo allegedly told police he had mentioned something about deleting text messages, but not in the context alleged.
Izzo resigned from as a member of the auxiliary police department on Nov. 18, 2016 as the internal affairs investigation was underway. He had been put on suspension from his volunteer position as of Nov. 12, 2016.
Izzo resigned, but said he would rescind his resignation if police decided the incident did not warrant his removal, according to the report.
In the report Sgt. Marcel Lajeunesse notes that Izzo should have “disengaged” from the conversation with the three underage girls he didn’t know once he “realized there was no meaningful purpose” for the discussion. Lajeunesse, in the report, questions why Izzo was talking about deleting text messages if he had not asked for a phone number.
The internal affairs concluded that a higher-ranking officer needed to make a decision about discipline. That did not happen because Izzo resigned.
Chief Narowski’s Email
Izzo was elected to the Ansonia Board of Education in late 2015.
At some point earlier this year, at least two members of the Ansonia school board learned of the 2016 incident, as did some members of an Ansonia-Derby committee studying whether to consolidate or regionalize schools.
Izzo is the regionalization committee’s co-chairperson.
Ansonia is a polarized city in terms of politics, with a deep wedge not just between Republicans and Democrats, but within the Republican Party itself.
In June, after learning The Valley Indy had a copy of the internal affairs report, Izzo, a “Team Cassetti” Republican, said the internal affairs report was being spread by political opponents on the Ansonia school board to smear his name.
But, according to the July 19 email from Derby Police Chief Narowski, Izzo has been working behind the scenes trying to use local politicians to pressure the chief to reinstate him as an auxiliary police officer in Derby. Narowski called Izzo’s integrity into question.
The chief’s email was sent to Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan, the mayor’s chief of staff Andrew Baklik, Aldermanic President Charles Sampson, Derby Corporation Counsel Vin Marino, school board chairman Jim Gildea, Derby Schools Superintendent Matthew Conway, and Derby Police Commission members Richard Bartholomew, Sam Pollastro Jr, and Thomas Lenart Sr.
Narowski said that after Izzo resigned his volunteer position in Derby, police discovered information about him that had not been previously uncovered during a background check.
The chief’s email does not disclose the information, but says the incident “had been expunged.”
The Valley Indy sent an email Monday to the chief seeking additional comment.
“Based on the new background information we have, this organization would never accept his application to be a volunteer. Izzo approached me several times and wanted to retract his resignation,” Narowski wrote. “I informed him that if he did I would terminate his position as a volunteer as a result of the investigation.”
The chief’s email also accuses Izzo of being “insubordinate and disrespectful” to members of the police department.
“He demanded that he be reinstated to the former mayor and police commission. After the last election, he demanded the same from the current mayor and police commission,” Narowski wrote.
The Valley Indy requested and received a copy of the internal affairs investigation in April, one of several requests Derby police received for the document.
Narowski said Izzo then increased his efforts to get reinstated as an auxiliary officer in Derby.
“After this Izzo’s quest to be reinstated was bolstered and he actively reached out to and enlisted the assistance of mayors, police chiefs, and police commissioners to compel me to reinstate him as a volunteer,” Narowski said.
Izzo is doing this to prove to the Ansonia Board of Education that the 2016 incident was a misunderstanding, the chief wrote, citing conversations with people who are not named.
“It is clear that Mr. Izzo’s true intent is spin-doctoring any reinstatement to the auxiliary police to show that he is a competent and trustworthy member of the Ansonia BOE,” the chief wrote.
