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DUI Charge for Woman, 28

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Police late Sunday arrested a 28-year-old Norwalk woman and charged her with driving under the influence. 

At about 10:35 p.m. on Oct. 13, officers responded to a single-car crash in the area of Brushy Ridge Road just north of Hill Street, according to a police report. Arriving, police found a car that had crashed into a stone wall, the report said. On speaking with the driver, officers found signs of impairment including bloodshot, glassy eyes, it said. After conducting field sobriety tests, police arrested the woman on the DUI charge.

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Police Chief: NCPD Could Start Ticketing Parents for Kids’ Misuse of E-Bikes

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If the problem of young people riding e-bikes recklessly downtown persists, police may start ticketing their parents, according to Chief John DiFederico. Asked about the proliferation and misuse of the motorized vehicles in New Canaan, specifically in the downtown area, DiFederico pointed to a state statute regarding the operation of e-bikes and electric foot scooters. It allows towns to create their own ordinances regarding the vehicles, including “penalties” for violations, as well as provisions requiring annual licensing. “The statute for bikes and bike rules in general— not just e-bikes—allows for a parent or guardian to be held accountable for their children who are operating a bike illegally: riding on sidewalks, going the wrong way, not obeying traffic laws,” DiFederico told NewCanaanite.com. “So we are exploring that.

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New Canaan Man, 80, Charged with Voyeurism, Stalking

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New Canaan Police on Sept. 27 arrested an 80-year-old Avalon Drive man by warrant following multiple complaints from a female neighbor about stalking incidents stretching back to May. Joseph Cassata was charged with second-degree stalking, voyeurism and simple trespass. Cassata’s neighbor reported his behavior and actions to police on Sept. 16, according to an arrest warrant application signed the following day by state Superior Court Judge Alex V. Hernandez. 

For about five months, Cassata “had repeatedly engaged in unwanted contact despite her telling him multiple times not to speak with her,” according to the police affidavit completed by Officer Michael Schnell and obtained by NewCanaanite.com.

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Town Approves One-Year Extension for Cloud Storage of Police Camera Videos

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Town officials on Tuesday approved an approximately $33,000 contract for cloud software storage of evidence footage recorded by New Canaan Police body and vehicle cameras. The department is required to retain video and audio recordings for various amounts of time depending on what the footage is—for example, according to Capt. Joseph Farenga, drunk-driving arrests must be stored for two years. “For our standard footage, I believe it’s 60 or 90 days that we hold onto it if there’s no incident associated with it,” he told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of renewing NCPD’s $33,400 one-year contract with Wallingford-based Telrepco. Carlson noted that there’s “only one data storage company that all the police use in the state of Connecticut,” saying she envisions the cost of storage to rise with the proliferation of body cameras in law enforcement. She asked Farenga whether there are other providers.

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Man, 58, Charged for Failure to Take Sobriety Test

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Police last week arrested a 58-year-old Norwalk man and charged him with failure to take a sobriety test. At about 12:18 a.m. on Sept. 9 (a Monday), an officer on patrol spotted a car traveling north on Route 123 without a front license plate, according to a police report. During a subsequent stop, the odor smelled alcohol on the driver, the report said. Police conducted standard field sobriety tests, it said. 

It isn’t clear why the man wasn’t charged with driving under the influence.