Crime & Safety

Internal Affairs Clears Officer Who Chased Teen Before Fatal Crash

The Seymour officer who chased a car before it crashed and killed Brandon Giordano was named officer of the year for 2012.

A Seymour Police Department internal affairs investigation has cleared an officer of wrongdoing in connection with a car accident that claimed the life of 15-year-old Brandon Giordano of Oxford last year.

The 18-page internal affairs report, made public Monday after Freedom of Information requests by multiple media outlets including Patch, states that Officer Anthony Renaldi should not face administrative action. Lt. Paul Satkowski, the chief internal affairs investigator, could not find any violation of policy or procedure by Renaldi on the night of March 9, 2012, according to the report. (See the full report attached.)

Giordano’s mother, Angela Borrelli of Oxford, said she is disappointed but not surprised by the police department’s findings. She said she believes both Renaldi and the driver of the car he was attempting to pull over – Eric Ramirez of Oxford – were at fault.

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“It took one person to pull the car over and it took another person to call off the pursuit, and neither did,” she said. “As much as I have been there for Eric (Ramirez) because he was friends with my son, I believe he should be held accountable, and so should Officer Renaldi.”

Borrelli said she plans to file a lawsuit against the Seymour Police Department.

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Neither Satkowski nor Seymour Chief Michael Metzler would comment; both said the internal affairs report speaks for itself.

Background

Shortly before midnight on March 9, 2012, Renaldi noticed illegal blue lights on the undercarriage of Ramirez’s car and attempted to pull him over near the Klarides Village Plaza on Route 67 in Seymour, according to a police report. Ramirez did not pull over and instead took off toward Oxford, driving at speeds of between 61 and 91 mph while swerving back and forth between lanes to avoid hitting cars, according to a state police report of the incident.

The Mustang struck an embankment on Old State Road at a rate of 61 mph, twice the speed limit in the area, the state police report states. The vehicle, carrying three teens between 15 and 19, flew 59 feet and hit a building head-on at the second floor before landing upside down. All three were trapped.

Ramirez, then 19, sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Giordano, the backseat driver, was pronounced dead on arrival just before midnight. Front seat passenger Dion Major, then 16, was treated and released from a local hospital.

Ramirez, now 20, has been charged with misconduct with a motor vehicle, reckless driving, engaging police in pursuit and two driving infractions. He is free after posting bond. He has pleaded not guilty and his case is making its way through the court system. 

‘Within His Legal Rights as an Officer’  

The Seymour PD’s internal affairs investigation states Renaldi was “within his legal rights as a police officer to stop (the Mustang) for several motor vehicle violations he had observed." 

“Although the first violation may have been for an equipment violation (illegal lights), (Renaldi) later observed several more reckless acts committed by the operator, which made the attempt to stop the vehicle more urgent. I found that he followed the Uniform Statewide Pursuit Policy (the minimum policy for police departments in Connecticut) as well as the Seymour Police Department Policy on handling pursuits.”

The first line of the Uniform Statewide Pursuit Policy states “the decision to initiate a pursuit shall be based on the pursuing police officer’s conclusion that the immediate danger to the police officer and the public created by the pursuit is less than the immediate or potential danger to the public should the occupants of such vehicle remain at large.” (Read the full statewide pursuit policy here; Oxford Patch has requested a copy of the Seymour policy.)

Borrelli, Giordano’s mother, told Patch she believes Renaldi should never have engaged in pursuit.

“That’s what kills me about this whole thing. If you are saying he followed all procedures, well I’m not a lawyer or an officer, but I know from common knowledge that you don’t chase kids at speeds of between 60-and-90-mph because of running lights,” she said. “Where is the danger to the public?”

Radio Communication Problems

Renaldi told investigators he called off the pursuit near Tommy K’s Plaza in Oxford when Ramirez shut off his car lights and turned on Old State Road.  However, there is no radio transmission of Renaldi calling off the pursuit, and someone signed a sworn affidavit stating he saw Renaldi chasing the Mustang near Tommy K’s Plaza, the report states. Renaldi later states that he re-engaged in pursuit when he saw “heavy brake lights” from a far distance away, the report states.

“Officer Renaldi attributes the lack of audio radio transmissions to poor radio communication problems within the Seymour Police Department,” according to the report. “Officer Renaldi is adamant he radioed into the Seymour Police Dispatch Center that he was terminating his attempt to stop the vehicle as he passed the Tommy K’s Plaza in Oxford. He stated that although it was never recorded, he is certain that he called it in.”

Renaldi speculates the radio transmission could have been “stepped over by another officer,” and that there have been numerous problems with radio transmissions prior to the incident that are documented from other officers during the past several years.

Seymour police have had several problems with poor radio communications and town officials allocated $500,000 before this incident to replace the system. The communications system has now been replaced, Satkowski said. 

The internal affairs report states Satkowski cannot definitively say whether there was a radio communications problem. Satkowski notes that Officer Kevin Miceli remembered hearing Renaldi say something over the radio system but it was faint and could not be made out properly.

Angela Borrelli, Giordano’s mother, said said he believes the radio issue is a “convenient excuse."

Officer of the Year

Renaldi has been given accolades since joining Seymour PD a little more than two years ago, including an award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for DUI arrests, Satkowski said.

Last month, the Seymour-Oxford Rotary Club honored him with Seymour’s 2012 police officer of the year; the department nominates officers.

Prior to working in Seymour, Renaldi was an officer in Southbury for a year.


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