Police and Politics

East Haven cops and politicos cross the thin blue line.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
By Betsy Yagla

If East Haven's new mayor, April Capone Almon, wanted to make things more uncomfortable for East Haven's police chief, she may have found a way.

Capone Almon has tapped local attorney Patricia Cofrancesco to serve as town counsel. Cofrancesco's representing disgruntled East Haven cops in at least two lawsuits against the department for what the suits characterize as poor decision-making on Police Chief Leonard Gallo's part.

Cofrancesco sued Gallo on behalf of Officer Bob Nappe, who was denied a year's leave of absence to train Iraqi police officers. Nappe resigned to go to Iraq and won his job back in court. Nappe was also vice president of the police union and didn't always see eye-to-eye with Gallo.

Cofrancesco's also representing 89-year-old Ralph Accurso, who got into a fender-bender with the wife of Maturo's town attorney, Larry Sgrignari. Gallo caught wind of the accident and, according to the lawsuit, ordered officers at the scene to arrest Accurso (the officers refused), even though Accurso was not at fault. Accurso's suing Gallo for interference.

Cofrancesco's appointment capped off a dramatic week in East Haven politics that culminated in Capone Almon being crowned mayor (again) after a third and final recount of ballots from Nov. 6. The intrigue appeared to deepen when Democratic Party boss Gene Ruocco discovered six trash bags full of shredded documents in a Town Hall basement and called in the cops to investigate. Cops hauled the bags off to the police station where Gallo moved them from the evidence room to the property room, limiting access to the bags.

Gallo asked New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington's office to investigate, but Dearington says there's not enough evidence to warrant an inquiry.

East Haven police were already the front and center in the close and contentious mayoral election: The police union endorsed and ran Capone Almon's campaign, following a vote of no confidence in Gallo in 2006. Gallo's been serving under an indefinite appointment by Maturo, but Capone Almon says things are going to change.

"I'd definitely like to make that a contract position," she says. "Things are going to be changing at the police department because we have to do something. The [police] department and officers know I have their best interest at heart. I want to see their work environment improved."
Get it? Gallo's gone as soon as Capone Almon's got a chance to kick him out. While cops dig up dirt on their boss to secure his dismissal, she's trying to make his job uncomfortable. Enter attorney Cofrancesco, who it seems will have to hand off the Nappe and Accurso cases now that she's town attorney. She can't sue herself.

Cofrancesco's last gig as a municipal attorney, as New Haven Mayor John DeStefano's corporation counsel, didn't end so well. DeStefano fired Cofrancesco for signing off on an illegal, interest-free lead-abatement loan to one of his City Hall aides. Cofrancesco, along with another dismissed city attorney, Martin Echter, has since become an aggressive litigator against the city.

A call to Confrancesco's East Haven law office went unreturned.