YIR: Top Police Stories of the Year
Brookfield Patch's Top 10 emergency and crime stories of 2011.
Brookfielder Dong Lin's WestConn ID. Lin died after a hit-and-run incident near the university campus on Tuesday, November 22.
Lin Family
Photos (4)
Photos
Videos (2)
Videos
Hit-and-Run Death
Near the end of November, a young Brookfield man, Western Connecticut State University (WestConn) student Dong Lin, was struck while crossing White Street in Danbury and died a short time later due to his wounds. The driver, later discovered to be a fifth-year senior at the university, fled the scene of the accident and turned himself in a week later in the presence of his lawyer.
Danbury police have yet to issue an arrest in the incident but officials say one is pending. Meanwhile, Lin’s family is hoping for some justice.
Echo Bay Suicide
A New Jersey woman, 26-year-old Celeste Tonia, was found dead in her submerged vehicle off the shore of Echo Bay Marina on a Tuesday morning in April. Tonia’s death was ruled a suicide by the state medical examiner and she had posted a short message on her Facebook wall the day before: “No excuses, just a simple goodbye.”
Webster Bank Robbery
A man robbed the Webster Bank near Four Corners in June, making off with an undisclosed amount of cash. Brookfield police were aware of a number of leads in the search for a suspect, however it was Danbury police who caught him first, on separate robbery charges.
DEA on North Lake Shore Drive
North Lake Shore Drive residents observed a cluster of police activity on their street one night in February in what turned out to be a small portion of a larger Danbury area drug ring specializing in performance steroids. The North Lake Shore Drive resident, Glenn Wagner, allegedly distributed marijuana as part of the drug ring and was arrested in connection with the case.
Fatal Accident
One late evening in early August, police responded to reports of a single car accident on Whisconier Road, just south of the library. When police arrived, they found 68-year-old Naldo Rosiello dead at the wheel. According to police after the investigation, Rosiello passed away while driving and was likely dead before the accident occurred.
Lock Your Doors
Brookfield police are warning residents about the need to secure their homes when they are away and lock their vehicles overnight. Police told Brookfield Patch that a new wave of crime has come to Brookfield in which local youth are breaking into unlocked cars and homes looking for small, expensive items to pawn. The thieves are looking for quick and easy, however, so police are asking residents to lock up and avoid being a target.
People often say to police, “’But this is Brookfield,’” officer Michael Zezza said, but, “Those days are over,” a sentiment echoed in a Letter to the Editor from reader Cathy Hunt about not being able to “leave a door open for children to come home to.”
Former Dispatcher Pleas
After a prolonged series of continuances, former police dispatcher Douglas Fisher entered a plea to charges of larceny for embezzling over $17,000 while presiding as president of the union serving dispatchers, groundskeepers and clerical workers. Fisher missed a subsequent court date and a re-arrest order was issued with a court-set bond of full restitution for the union. Fisher turned himself in to Brookfield police in November and paid the cash bond in full.
Graffiti: Hearts and Bridges
Graffiti hearts began popping up in Brookfield and Danbury this winter and seemed to multiply through the spring. Though the inherent message behind the hearts was something many could appreciate, the choice of canvas was cause for concern for officials.
One canvas, on the other hand, has been encouraged: the Graffiti Bridge at the intersection of Junction Road and Stony Hill Road, where locals trumpet good news and important causes and remember lost friends and town icons.
January Storm
Over the course of 24 hours starting late on the night of January 11, Brookfield’s firefighters, ambulance and road crews worked a collective 140 hours through a vicious snowstorm. The emergency responders, the majority of them volunteers, went above and beyond to save lives and ensure the safety of town residents — and everyone made it through the storm safely.
31st Officer
The Brookfield Police Department welcomed the return of the 31st officer position with the force’s newest member, Mitchell Heller. The 23-year-old Heller spent most of the year at the police academy and working through the Brookfield police training program, but he will be going on patrols in 2012.
In This article
-
-
-
-
-
Echo Bay Marina
227 Candlewood Lake Rd, Brookfield, CT -
-
Webster Bank
789 Federal Rd, Brookfield, CT -
-
-
-
-
-
-
Brookfield Library
182 Whisconier Rd, Brookfield, CT -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
