A U.S. Navy chief petty officer from Ansonia serving in Afghanistan wants his fellow American Legion members to offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people plundering local war memorials for profit.
Patrick Henri called from Kabul, Afghanistan Friday after reading about the thefts in the Valley Independent Sentinel.
“First I read about the ones in Derby, now I’m reading they took them out of Ansonia, too. It’s sickening,” Henri said. “I’m irate about this.”
Henri, who is scheduled to return from Afghanistan in January, said he is contacting fellow members of the local American Legion Post (Gordon-Visselli Post 50) to discuss offering a reward.
Click here to read about Henri’s responsibilities in Afghanistan.
In Ansonia, two plaques containing the names of residents who served in World War II and Vietnam were stolen.
Henri said he hopes his Legion members back home will coordinate a reward with the Ansonia Police Department.
“We have to do something right now if the police think it is helpful,” Henri said. “This is right up our alley. These are war memorials. We have to protect them.”
Plaques were also stolen from a memorial in Derby’s Witek Park, where thieves pried off tablets dedicated to a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who was killed in action in World War II.
In Shelton, someone stole a plaque dedicated to Commodore Isaac Hull, a Derby native who commanded the U.S.S. Constitution during the War of 1812.
The Shelton plaque had been in its spot off Howe Avenue since 1951.
There were no arrests in any of the thefts Friday. Police in all three towns think the items may have been stolen so they could be sold for scrap metal.
The Investigation
There are no suspects in the Ansonia theft, according to police spokesman Lt. Andrew Cota.
Police are trying to pinpoint precisely when the tablets were removed from the Ansonia memorial.
Area police have been in contact with scrap metal yards in the region.
“We’ve been reaching out to them to learn if they’ve seen anything or if anyone has come in trying to sell anything,” Cota said.
The scrap metal employees are telling police that anyone bringing in full-size plaques with the names of veterans would immediately stick out as suspicious.
However, the scrap dealers all telling police the danger is that the thieves already broke and dismembered the tablets into small parts.
“They could grind them down and mix them in with other smaller pieces and get them into a box or bucket so that it is unrecognizable as a memorial,” Cota said. “There is a chance that they’ve already been sold and recycled — but we don’t have any indication of that either way at this point. We do not know the status of the plaques.”
There’s also a chance the thieves have the items stored somewhere and are waiting for the attention to go away, Cota said.
In Shelton, Detective Sgt. Kevin Ahern has taken photographs of the remaining war memorials to create an inventory and record. Patrol officers will be watching the memorials carefully, Ahern said.
Police in Ansonia, Derby and Shelton said that while war memorials are sometimes the target of graffiti or other forms of criminal mischief — this is the first time memorials were plundered for profit.
“It’s shameful. You would hope that certain things would be off limits,” Cota said.
Derby Reward
Leo Moscato, Jr., a Derby resident and director of the Derby Parking Authority, also contacted the Valley Indy Friday morning and offered a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the thieves.
He said his son, Joshua, a Troop 3 Boy Scout leader in Derby, came up with the idea during a family dinner Thursday.
“I’m a United States Marine Corps veteran,” Moscato said. “I think what’s happening here is just disgraceful.”
Moscato is hoping that others will join together to offer their own rewards, or add to his offer.
“I think it’s important,” Moscato said. “I think a reward is another tool in catching someone out there, especially in this economy when everyone is financially burdened. I think it would be a good tool.”
Moscato said he would be willing to work with the Derby Police Department to distribute the reward to the person who gives the information.
Tougher Penalties Needed?
In Canada, where memorials have recently been vandalized, a lawmaker proposed making the destruction of a war memorial a new criminal offense.
Click here to read more about the effort up north.
Henri, the Ansonia Navy reservist serving in Afghanistan, likes the idea of increasing penalties for thieves targeting war memorials.
“Maybe that’s something the Legion can bring up with our legislatures. We should get the Legion behind it,” he said.
Police said the monetary value of the tablets determine which degree of larceny will be applied, if someone is caught. The sentimental value the items have to the communities doesn’t really count in terms of criminal charges.
The plaques are also covered under criminal mischief laws.
In addition, defacing or removing a memorial plaque is listed in the state penal code as a class A misdemeanor.
Attempting to sell a memorial plaque is also a class A misdemeanor.
Meanwhile, messing with cemetery memorials is a felony.
The thieves could possibly face second-degree larceny charges, a felony. The law covers property less than $2,000 “that is obtained by defrauding a public community.”
Is it time to rethink the law regarding war memorials specifically? Perhaps, two state lawmakers said.
State Rep. Len Greene, Jr., R‑Seymour, said he had thought about increasing the penalties after hearing Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe on the radio explaining that three of his relatives are listed on the tablets stolen in Ansonia.
“It really hit home,” Greene said.
The lawmaker said special protection for war memorials is at least worth exploring.
He said he would reach out to other Valley lawmakers to research and discuss if it is something that can be done — or if the laws in place are sufficient.
“I haven’t had a chance to explore it in any detail, but it’s something worth talking about,” Greene said.
State Rep. Jason Perillo, R‑Shelton, said he would be happy to explore legislative option, but he’s not sure memorials could be viewed legally as different than other types of property.
Stealing or plundering memorials may not “make you more of a criminal, but it makes you a lousy person,” Perillo said.
