Nanci G. Hutson
NEW MILFORD -- Fired police officer Brant Cadovius has lost his appeal to receive unemployment compensation.
The hearing
officer sided with the town's decision to terminate Cadovius for improper
conduct, which the official described as "extortion."
In findings from
the state Employment
Security Appeals Division in Waterbury, John Vagnini,
associate appeals referee, ruled that Cadovius' own words -- rather than the
documentation offered by his attorney to refute the town's allegations -- led
him to decide the 41-year-old police officer was not seeking
"restitution" from a teenager who alleged stole his wallet at the
Danbury Fair mall in August 2009.
Vagnini said his
finding, based on a legal definition, is that Cadovius was attempting to
"extort" $2,000 from the teen and his family.
Cadovius'
attorney, Daniel
Hunsberger of Ridgefield, said Friday he will appeal. He said there
are a "number of inconsistencies," including that the charges in the
criminal case, including extortion, were dropped.
On June 26,
Cadovius is scheduled for a separate termination hearing before the state
Department of Labor to determine if he will be reinstated to his job.
If the facts of
the case are properly reviewed, Hunsberger said, he expects those results, and
that of the next appeal, "will be entirely different."
Cadovius was fired
from his job on June 21, 2011, following an internal investigation into his
conduct. He first applied for unemployment compensation two months later. His
base annual salary was about $63,500.
Cadovius was
arrested in July 2010 and initially charged by Danbury police with attempted
fourth-degree larceny (extortion) and second-degree harassment.
Those charges were
later increased by the State's Attorney's Office to attempted first-degree
larceny, attempted third-degree larceny, second-degree harassment and
second-degree threatening.
In November,
Cadovius entered into a plea bargain under the Alford Doctrine that dropped all
of the charges but a single count of breach of peace.
Under the Alford
doctrine, a defendant disputes allegations but accepts there is enough evidence
to convict him were the case to go to jury trial.
Cadovius was
sentenced in March to a suspended sentence of six months' incarceration, with
two years of conditional discharge.
The criminal case
relates to an incident in August 2009, when Cadovius left his wallet on a train
he was riding with his children at Danbury Fair mall.
The operator of
the train, 18-year-old Taylor
Cucchiara of Southbury, found the wallet, took the cash, inside and
then threw away the wallet, still holding Cadovius' badge, identification,
credit cards and other personal items.
The facts of the
case are listed in the appeal document The News-Times obtained through a
Freedom of Information request to Mayor Patricia
Murphy's office.
Cadovius first
reported to Danbury police that his wallet was lost. After contacting
Cucchiara, he reported it stolen.
The teen agreed to
repay $380, despite disagreeing about the amount of cash Cadovius said was in
the wallet.
A day later,
Cadovius called Cucchiara and asked for $2,000 "to make the incident go
away," the document says. The two agreed to meet at the mall, but
Cucchiara's mother, Suzanne, went instead and made a secret recording of their
exchange.
Cadovius is heard
demanding the $2,000 or he will press felony charges against the son, noting
that could cost the family financially and harm the teen's future.
Cadovius
"clearly tried to use his standing as a police officer to coerce the
Cucchiara family into paying him $2,000, above and beyond what was clearly
stolen from his wallet ..,'' Vagnini wrote.
"... Since
the Cucchiara family knew (Cadovius) was a police officer with experience in
these matters, his words were taken seriously," Vagnini wrote. "As
the employer (New Milford) pointed out, (Cadovius) was acting as judge and jury
in this matter."
Cadovius
characterized the proposed payment as "restitution," but Vagnini said
because he linked the payment to dropping felony charges it appears
"closer to extortion than restitution."
"The adverse
publicity the incident subsequently generated clearly was detrimental to the
reputation of the ... police department," Vagnini said.
Town Attorney Scott McCarthy
said he hopes the determinations in this case will be viewed similarly by the
labor board.
It was a
"fair hearing" and "the town is pleased with the findings and
the decision," he said.