Lengthy internal affairs investigation details the
dark side of a decorated, former Naugatuck officer.
By many accounts, former Naugatuck police officer Tom
Grant was a heck of a street cop – the type who remembered the names and faces
of known criminals in the area, what they were up to lately and how to track
them down.
Grant, a 39-year-old veteran officer, even received an
award for helping to save a life in 2011.
But the man who worked his way up the ranks from
dispatcher to patrolman in the Naugatuck Police Department seemingly battled a
fierce substance abuse problem that led to physical altercations with
significant others, violent public outbursts and serious displays of disrespect
to his superiors within the department. It may have also led Grant to abuse
narcotics, even while on the job, according to statements made to officers by
police informants, some of whom are also convicted felons.
Those details are spelled out in more than 150 pages
of internal affairs documents regarding an investigation into Grant, who
resigned on May 3 minutes before the Board of Police Commissioners was set to
act on whether to terminate him after his second domestic violence incident and
several violations of departmental policies and procedures. The Naugatuck
Police Department released the internal affairs documents to the press on
Friday following Freedom of Information requests.
Alcohol Abuse and Domestic
Violence
Grant had signed a "last chance agreement"
in 2009 given to him by Police Chief Christopher Edson. It said Grant would not
abuse alcohol and it came on the heels of an incident at a Rubber Avenue bar in
which Grant was drunk and belligerent as he yelled at his superior officers who
wanted him to go outside and cool off. But Grant, who had also been arrested
for domestic violence in 2007, found himself in trouble once again in January
of this year. That was when his former live-in girlfriend accused him of being
intoxicated and getting violent with her because she wouldn’t take a bath with
him. She told police that following the Jan. 23 argument, Grant punched her in
the leg with a closed fist, pulled out a chunk of her hair, used racial slurs
and threatened to kill her and himself.
According to the ex-girlfriend’s statement to police:
On Jan. 24, Grant scared the ex-girlfriend’s children
so much with his actions that their grandmother had to pick them up and bring
them to her house.
Grant then told his ex-girlfriend he should “blow his
brains out” and that he should kill her, too.
He also told his ex-girlfriend’s mother that he was
going to shoot her in the head and shoot himself.
“I (then) heard Tom say, ‘I’m going to kill
everyone,’” the ex-girlfriend is quoted as saying in the report.
Grant then took his gun, his gun belt, uniforms and
left for the evening, according to the ex-girlfriend’s statement. Grant ended
up calling in sick from his shift at the police department that next day.
‘It was apparent he was
intoxicated’
On Jan. 25, Grant’s ex-girlfriend filed a domestic
violence complaint against him, and police searched for Grant to discuss the
incident and check on his well-being.
At 12:40 p.m. that day, Naugatuck Police Detective
Sgt. Ronald Hunt and Sgt. Bryan Cammarata went to a house on Frederick Street,
where they heard Grant was staying. Grant went outside and started creating a
scene as he yelled in the street, according to a police report.
In the report, Hunt and Cammarata say of Grant’s
response: “He immediately started yelling, ‘What did that (expletive) accuse me
of now?’ It was apparent to me that Grant was intoxicated. He continued to yell
and stated that we should arrest him, that he was sick of all this (stuff).’”
Grant continued to yell, and Hunt was able to convince
Grant to go to the police department headquarters to discuss the issue further.
Once in the police cruiser, Grant began to yell and scream again. When they saw
now-retired Capt. Jeremiah Scully and Lt. Greg Dean in a car, Grant became
enraged.
“Ofc. Grant began yelling profanities and flipping off
both Capt. Scully and Lt. Dean as they drove away,” the report states. “Grant
continued to behave erratically, as he would be calm for a few minutes and
would then become argumentative.”
Grant was told he was being taken by ambulance to
Waterbury Hospital for evaluation.
“During this time, Grant made a statement saying, ‘I
should have shot myself when I had the chance,” the report states.
Claims of Drug Abuse
Grant was ultimately brought before the police
commission on May 4 because he violated the "last chance agreement,"
which officially stated that for a period of four years, he would commit no
alcohol related violations of the borough’s work rules, including department
policies and procedures; if he did, it would constitute just cause for discharge.
However, when the domestic incident occurred, internal
affairs investigators were already piecing together an extensive report about
still unsubstantiated claims that Grant had frequently used illegal narcotics.
Officers started looking into claims of Grant’s drug abuse on Jan. 20, five
days before they arrested him for the domestic. That was when the Watertown
Police Department provided information to Naugatuck police that informants told
them Grant attempted to purchase prescription pain medication from a Waterbury
resident and that he uses crack cocaine and prescription medication with a
Watertown resident. A registered federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
informant also said he saw Grant use illegal prescription medication, had sold
him heroin and had seen him use it while on duty, the report states.
The informant, who is a self-professed illegal
narcotics abuser himself, told police that he supplied painkillers for Grant
and “gave him the drugs for free because he looked the other way for (the informant’s
arrest) warrants.”
The informant also said he bought heroin for Grant
about 20 to 30 times, and that he did this because “it was nice to know you had
a cop on your side,” the report states.
Denial
In tape-recorded interviews with police, Grant continuously
denied he bought or used drugs. He did admit that he associated on a personal
level with a convicted felon and registered sex offender, and that he was with
someone when that person bought cocaine at a bar in Waterbury, the report
states. That person, whom Grant said was a friend, recently died of a suspected
drug overdose. Grant was said to have been distraught over the man’s death.
Grant, who is listed as 6-feet, three-inches tall and
230 pounds, also denied that he ever physically assaulted his ex-girlfriend.
When police asked Grant why his ex-girlfriend had a bruise on her leg, Grant
blamed it on her running into a wheelchair at her job.
And when asked by police whether he believed his
ex-girlfriend obtained a bruise and then made up an elaborate story about Grant
giving it to her so Grant would lose his job, the former officer replied
simply: “Yes I do.”
Outcome
Chief Christopher Edson states in the report that he
believes all of the internal affairs findings are justified, and he recommended
a termination hearing before the police commission.
Grant, who earned just under $64,000 in base salary
last year, resigned before being fired and is eligible to collect a pension
from the borough when he is 60.
Lt. Robert Harrison, Naugatuck police spokesman and
head of the internal affairs division, said Grant is not being criminally
prosecuted for alleged drug use.
“Some of the information obtained falls outside of the
statute of limitations and there were some discussions with the Waterbury
Superior Court (prosecutor’s office) about whether it would be handed in a
criminal fashion, and we didn’t feel (the information) rose to a level where it
would be substantive enough,” Harrison said. “All criminal and administrative
investigations into Tom Grant are concluded at this point.”
Grant’s criminal case at Waterbury Superior Court has
been referred to a family relations officer. He has not yet entered a plea and
is expected to appear for another court date on June 19.
Grant could not be reached for comment for this
article. As of late last week, many local officers said they did not know his
whereabouts.