Board of Selectmen

After Dulos Case, New Canaan Police Investigators Seek More Video Surveillance Throughout Town

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Police investigators in New Canaan hope that the town’s plan to install cameras at Waveny’s entrances as a result of the Dulos case leads to more video surveillance throughout town. For the fourth straight year, the New Canaan Police Department Investigative Section is asking that municipal officials especially consider installations at the town border and entrance and exit ramps of the Merritt Parkway, according to an end-of-year report from the head of the section, Lt. Jason Ferraro. “This is directly supported by the Dulos case and the huge role that video evidence played in leading to the arrests of [Fotis] Dulos and [Michelle] Troconis,” Ferraro said in the report, discussed briefly at Jan. 15 regular meeting of the Police Commission and obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. 

“We realize this is a capital item but having LPR’s [“license plate recognition” cameras] located at strategic locations would greatly improve our ability to get ahead in an investigation and improve the likelihood of an arrest occurring. Hopefully the approval to install cameras at Waveny Park as a result of the Dulos case will be the beginning of more cameras at vital locations within New Canaan.”

The Board of Selectmen last month approved the hiring of a Bridgeport-based technology consulting firm to put together an RFP for updating security systems in New Canaan.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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One of the attorneys for the lunch ladies charged with first-degree larceny, Stamford-based Darnell Crosland, told reporters Monday that he and his client have agreed to be filmed by A&E as part of the TV network’s planned show, “The Accused.” The show “tells the dramatic stories of people at the most vital and most terrifying moment of their lives,” according to A&E. “This gripping series reveals the true inside story of what happens when someone is accused of a crime they believe they did not commit. Featuring the defendant, their family and their legal teams, ‘The Accused (working title)’ reveals the personal cost of every charge, watching each case unfold from the defendant’s point of view. It shares every twist and turn of this traumatic experience from their first meeting with their lawyers right up to the verdict allowing viewers to judge the subject’s innocence for themselves.”

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A new business is “popping up” next Wednesday at 4 South Ave. (formerly Funky Monkey) in New Canaan.

News

Police ID Victim in South Bald Hill Road Untimely Death as 71-Year-Old Woman

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New Canaan Police have identified the deceased person found pinned and non-responsive beneath a motor vehicle on Tuesday as 71-year-old Rye Brook, N.Y. resident Kathleen Hofer. Police, firefighters and EMTs rushed to a South Bald Hill Road residence at 11:58 a.m. on March 27 on a report of a victim beneath a vehicle. The New Canaan Police Department’s Accident Reconstruction Unit investigation is ongoing, according to a press statement from Lt. Jason Ferraro, NCPD’s public information officer. The state Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting an autopsy to determine cause of death, he said. More information will be released when the NCPD investigation is completed.

Around Town

Blustery Winter Storm Dumps Nearly One Foot of Snow in New Canaan; Public Schools Closed Friday

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The winter storm that whipped into New Canaan before dawn Thursday dumped an estimated 10.4 inches of snow on the town, as gusting winds blew high snowdrifts and dozens of local businesses and organizations were forced to close with road conditions rapidly deteriorating. New Canaan Public Schools will be closed Friday, too, officials said, while district offices will open on a 2-hour delay. Town Hall will open at 10 a.m.

New Canaan Police confirmed two storm-related motor vehicle accidents on Thursday afternoon while firefighters responded to multiple reports of frozen pipes, as sustained low temperatures continued throughout the day, hovering between single digits and the mid-20s. Police Lt. Jason Ferraro, the department’s public information officer, urged motorists to monitor road conditions and stay home if possible in order for state and local highway crews to clear the streets and make them safe. “People should still stay home after it stops snowing and use caution if they must venture out,” Ferraro said.

News

Officials: Opponents of ‘Merritt Village’ Project Arrested After Refusing To Leave Burial Ground [UPDATED]

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Police on Thursday afternoon arrested two New Canaan residents—longtime opponents of the 110-unit ‘Merritt Village’ redevelopment on Park and Maple Streets—following what eye-witnesses call their refusal to leave a long disused burial ground adjacent to the property. Terry Spring and Jack Trifero each were charged with third-degree criminal trespass. Spring additionally was charged with interfering with an officer. According to representatives from property owner M2 Partners LLC, Spring and Trifero some time around 12:20 p.m. walked onto what has been called the “Maple Street Burial Ground” after parking in a contiguous private condominium’s lot. After New Canaan’s Planning & Zoning Commission approved the Merritt Village project last November, the question of appropriate protections for (and ownership of) the burial ground—a collection of scattered gravestones, disinterred grave shafts and even bodies that M2 itself discovered—lingered before the property owner could pursue its redevelopment project in earnest.