Year in Review: Top Cop Stories of 2012

Police Search for Victim

In a reversal of the usual roles, Brookfield police were searching for the victim of a purse snatching outside Shop Rite, rather than the offender, early in the year. A suspect attempted to steal a woman’s purse but was stopped by a bystander. Police apprehended the would-be thief shortly thereafter, but the victim had left by the time officers arrived at the scene.

Hit and Run Driver Arrested

A Brookfield family may have found some small solace in January when police identified and arrested the alleged driver in a fatal hit-and-run at Western Connecticut State University that took the life of 19-year-old Dong Lin just before Thanksgiving 2011.

The suspected driver, 22-year-old WestConn student Eugene Robinson, pled “not guilty” to charges of evading responsibility, however the case is still in the pre-trial phase, with the next court date scheduled for January 9.

Brookfield’s resident K9 officer, Bruno, is an indispensable member of the police department, and no more so than in February when he tracked down an alleged burglar shortly after he broke in to Brookfield Coin and Card.

Drug Ring Conspirator Sentenced

A year and a half after local, state and federal agents raided a home on North Lake Shore Drive, the homeowner, Glenn Wagner, was sentenced in July to 62 months in prison and five years of supervised release for his role in a Danbury area drug ring. He pled guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana between January 2007 and February 2011.

Two ‘Suicide by Cop’ Attempts in One Week

A Brookfield man contacted police one Thursday evening in July threatening to commit “suicide by cop” and brandished a knife before charging at officers outside his Candlewood Lake Road apartment building. Police Tased the man and subdued him without further injuries.

Police were considering whether or not to file criminal charges when, . Police ultimately charged him with breach of peace in the second degree and interfering with an officer.

Two Blackwood Road residents were arrested in August and hit with a litany of charges involving drug manufacturing, processing and trafficking, as well as a charge for carrying and sale of dangerous weapons, i.e. guns.

Podiatrist Charged Two Years After Fed’s Raid

A Bethel podiatrist was charged with Medicare fraud two years after FBI and federal Department of Health and Human Services Offices of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) agents raided his Brookfield home.

According to  U.S. Attorney David Fein, from July 2008 to July 2011, Zaky submitted claims to the Medicare program stating that he had performed surgical procedures known as avulsions when, in fact, he had only performed routine foot care, such as clipping of toenails. According to the indictment, the government is also seeking to forfeit more than $29,000 in cash found during a search of Zaky’s residence in August 2010.