Around Town

Podcast: The Gracie Fund for Pediatric Cancer

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in iTunes), we talk to New Canaan’s Chris Falsetta about the Gracie Fund for Pediatric Cancer. Founded by the Falsetta family following a recent diagnosis of leukemia in their 12-year-old daughter, the Gracie Fund is the designated beneficiary for this year’s New Canaan Combine, a fun athletic competition between the New Canaan Police and Fire Departments, as well as community members of all ages. The Combine is scheduled for Oct. 1 (here’s a signup form to volunteer at the event and here’s information on how to sponsor and join a team—click here to contribute directly). Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

News

Risk of Injury Charge for 42-Year-Old Man

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Police on Monday arrested a 42-year-old Norwalk man by warrant and charged him with two counts of risk of injury to a child, a felony offense, and disorderly conduct. The charges stem from an investigation that authorities launched in March, according to a police report. Under state law, a person is guilty of risk of injury to a child if he or she “willfully or unlawfully causes or permits any child under the age of sixteen years to be placed in such a situation that the life or limb of such child is endangered, the health of such child is likely to be injured or the morals of such child are likely to be impaired, or does any act likely to impair the health or morals of any such child,” or “has contact with the intimate parts … of a child under the age of sixteen years or subjects a child under sixteen years of age to contact with the intimate parts of such person, in a sexual and indecent manner likely to impair the health or morals of such child,” among other reasons.  

It’s unclear what led to the charges in this case. Police withheld details, saying it’s a domestic matter. The man turned himself in to police at about 11:45 a.m. on May 22. 

He was released on $10,000 bond and scheduled to appear May 23 in state Superior Court.

News
NCPD

DUI Charge for New Canaan Man, 56

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Police after midnight Sunday arrested a 56-year-old New Canaan man and charged him with driving under the influence. At about 1:32 a.m. on May 21, officers responded to the area of Marvin Ridge and Nursery Roads on a report of a single-car crash, police said. 

The vehicle had left the roadway and struck an embankment, according to a police report. Police identified the New Canaan man, a Weeburn Drive resident, as the driver, and found signs of impairment and smelled alcohol on him during a subsequent interview, the report said. The man was unable to complete field sobriety tests, it said, and police transported him to headquarters where they brought the misdemeanor DUI charge. There, the man refused to provide a breath sample to establish his blood-alcohol level, police said.

News

Felony Larceny Charge for New Canaan Woman, 56

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Police last week arrested a 56-year-old New Canaan woman by warrant and charged her with first-degree larceny. The warrant related to reported fraudulent activity in an online banking account in May 2022, police said. Under state law, a person is guilty of first-degree larceny, a felony-level offense, if he or she obtains a property or service via extortion or “the value of the property or service exceeds twenty thousand dollars,” among other reasons. The woman, a Bank Street resident, turned herself in on the active warrant at about 2:07 p.m. on May 13. 

She was released on $5,000 bond and scheduled to appear May 25 in state Superior Court.

Government

Town Approves Two Contracts To Ready Temporary Police Department HQ Downtown

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The Board of Selectmen last week approved a pair of contracts totaling about $73,000 as the town prepares to move the New Canaan Police Department into a leased building downtown while the agency’s headquarters on South Avenue undergoes a widely anticipated renovation. The Board of Education is expected to vacate its longtime home at 39 Locust Ave. on Aug. 24, and at that point the town will start outfitting the space to make it ready for NCPD, according to Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer in the Department of Public Works. (The Board of Ed is moving into a newly acquired town building at 220 Elm St.)

“We have about 12 weeks to fit out the space to make it ready for the Police Department to move in,” Zagarenski said during the selectmen’s May 2 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.