April 16, 2009 - Instatutional Racism Documented In The Greenwich Police Department

Over Fifty Years Later Institutional Racism In The Greenwich Police Department Still Has A Bitter Sting

Another chapter complete in oral history project

Greenwich Post

.....Eugene Moye, a current Cos Cob resident who was the first African American police officer in town. Born in 1922, Mr. Moye, who moved to Greenwich in 1933 and married his wife Jeanette, a white woman, in the late 1940s, was educated in Greenwich public schools, was a veteran of World War II and later a teacher at Western Junior High School.

Initially unsuccessful at getting a teacher’s job in town, Mr. Moye applied to the police department in late 1950 because he needed a job.

“Often times the officers I rode with would not speak. So that was their way of censuring me. Then another guy I rode with did converse with me,” Mr. Moye said of the discrimination he faced there.

“There was one officer who was a pretty decent guy, Hilbert Heberling, a pretty decent guy,” he added. “He said that he was getting tired of people asking him, ‘What is he like?’ Meaning me. Now I’m sure I didn’t come from Mars. I’m sure I was brought up here in the United States.”....

April 17,2009 Iorfino and Corticelli thought they were meeting with a television crime series instead they walked into a roomful of GPD Officers

The Photo:

Officer Pierangelo Corticelli receives congratulations for being a co-winner of this year's Greenwich Lion's Club Clarke Police Award. (Bob Luckey/Greenwich Time photo)

The Headlines:

Police Award Was Chosen By Greenwich Police Chief David Ridberg and the Board of Selectmen.

All three selectmen -- First Selectman And Greenwich Police Commissioner Peter Tesei, Greenwich Police Commissioner Peter Crumbine and Lin Lavery -- attended Thursday's ceremony.

The Quotes:

"It's a great honor, there are so many worthy officers and investigations which are equally deserving," said Detective Pasquale Iorfino, a 22-year police veteran. "We were spending much more time with one another than we were with our families," Detective Pierangelo Corticelli, a 10-year veteran said.

The Reporter:

Frank MacEachern ( frank.maceachern@scni.com or 625-4434)

The Story:

Kissel cops get top honors Greenwich Time

Greenwich Time

Two town police detectives whose investigation resulted in two arrests in the murder case of Andrew Kissel were honored Thursday as the department's top officers for 2008.

Detectives Pasquale Iorfino and Pierangelo Corticelli received the Dr. John A. Clarke Award, an annual honor from the Greenwich Lions Club....

...Leonard Trujillo, 22, of Worcester, Mass., is charged with capital murder, first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. His cousin, Carlos Trujillo, 48, of Bridgeport, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The Trujillos were arrested in March 2008.....

....The Lions Club award is named in honor of Dr. John A. Clarke, a late Greenwich resident who served for years as a medical adviser to Greenwich Police, said Griff Harris, a Lions Club member and chairman of the event. Clarke, who died in 1944, was the first president of the Lions Club in 1923.

The award was first handed out in 1947 and was given to Sgt. William J. Burke....

April 17, 2009 Michael Parrotta Is Really Mad Now That He Is Unable To Post Bail. His Assets Are Tied Up In The Divorce, Which Has Yet To Be Settled

Greenwich stabbing suspect remains in jail

Greenwich Time

A town man accused of stabbing his wife nine times remains in custody after he was unable to post his $1.5 million bond Thursday because of complications from a pending divorce.....

.....A separate hearing on Parrotta's divorce was scheduled in civil court later Thursday afternoon. Russell told Judge referee Martin Nigro that a number of issues were likely to be resolved during that hearing, which Parrotta was scheduled to attend. Russell said he did not know if Parrotta's wife, the victim of the stabbing, would also be present.....

.....Police said Parrotta stabbed his wife in the chest and abdomen with a sharpened screwdriver as she sat in her car on the night of April 2. His wife, who lives separately from Parrotta, had arrived to pick up their son, when her husband leaned in through the car window and began stabbing her.....

Filed Under: Attempted Murder

April 16.2009 Cos Cob man was sentenced to three years probation in federal court Thursday for failing to report $100,000 in cash deposits on his 1040

Cos Cob man gets probation in tax evasion case

Greenwich Time

....Joseph Abbazia, 39, of 3 DeLuca Drive, pleaded guilty in August 2008 to the charge of illegally structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements.

Prosecutors said Abbazia earned income by providing property management services to state residents and then structured the cash deposits in different banks in amounts less than $10,000 to prevent the banks from filing Currency Transaction Reports with the federal government, according to court records. Officials said the crimes took place from 2003-04.....

.....Abbazia was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Christopher F. Droney.....

....In addition to probation, Abbazia will also be required to pay a $10,000 fine....

....Abbazia has amended his federal income tax returns for the 2003 and 2004 tax years and paid all back taxes....

Filed Under: White Collar Crime