http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.cop.4dec03,0,1130273.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Brian Lockhart and Matt Breslow
Staff Writer
December 3, 2004
NORWALK -- A city police officer and his son were arrested last night after they allegedly outfitted a used police cruiser with emergency lights and the 17-year-old drove the car through the city impersonating a cop.
Officer Russell Ouellette, 44, who joined the force in 1991, and his son, Russell "Rusty" Ouellette, both of 203 Silvermine Ave., turned themselves in to police headquarters at about 7 p.m., Police Chief Harry Rilling said.
The pair was released last night, , and the elder Ouellette will be placed on administrative leave, Rilling said.
Russell Ouellette is the sixth Norwalk officer arrested or in serious trouble in the past 16 months.
The chief would not comment further on the arrest or charges, but a source familiar with the investigation said it involved a used Los Angeles Police Department cruiser purchased by the father and son from a private citizen in Connecticut.
The Ouellettes allegedly outfitted the cruiser with emergency lights. On two different occasions in September, according to the source, Rusty drove the car through the city impersonating an officer.
Rusty allegedly pulled over a young female driver near his home on Silvermine Avenue, asked for her driver's license and motor vehicle registration, and left the scene.
The second incident allegedly occurred when, while driving through Cove Marina, Rusty was stopped by a security guard. The boy flashed a weapon, and said he was on the job for the police department.
Rusty Ouellette was charged last night with criminal impersonation, unlawful restraint, having weapons in a motor vehicle and breach of peace.
The elder Russell Ouellette's charges, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution, involve his allegedly removing the lights from the cruiser, the source said.
Officer James Byington, president of the Norwalk police union, said he was aware of a criminal investigation focused on Officer Ouellette, but not the particulars.
"I've known him for numerous years," Byington said last night. "He's a good officer and done a very fine job over the course of that time."
Byington said the union would represent the elder Ouellette should he face internal disciplinary action.
Rilling said the string of incidents is "certainly a concern."
"We have 179 police officers and we have a few problems, that's all there is to it," the chief said. "But we take the action that needs to be taken (and) we're not going to tolerate any inappropriate behavior by any police officer."
Byington said the department could go for years without having problems, then suddenly see a surge.
"There's no pattern. It's just unfortunate we've had quite a few," Byington said.
The union chief said that any kind of negative publicity hurts department morale.
"We're proud of our job and who we are," Byington said. "It's bothersome to every officer. It hurts."
Russell Ouellette is the sixth Norwalk officer arrested or in serious trouble in the lpast 16 months.
Most recently, 23-year police veteran James Saraceni was demoted from sergeant to patrolman Sept. 14 after Rilling found he engaged in conduct unbecoming of an officer. Saraceni is appealing the demotion.
He was never charged with a crime, but a woman alleged Saraceni drank vodka with her at a police substation, "fooled around" with her and allowed her to drive home drunk Oct. 16, 2003.
Saraceni's attorney has said the criminal accusations made against his client were "found to be of no substance."
Less than three weeks before Saraceni was demoted, Officer George Daley was charged in an alleged domestic incident involving a phone call with an ex-girlfriend. The charges against the 12-year police veteran, arrested Aug. 29 at his city home, were dropped at the recommendation of the Family Relations Division at Norwalk Superior Court.
Two days after Daley was arrested, former Officer Manuel Ferreira pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny and bribery in state Superior Court in Stamford. Norwalk police arrested Ferreira on April 27 moments after he was caught in a videotaped sting taking $2,500 to help erase an apparently illegal immigrant's computer record. The seven-year veteran agreed to resign from the department as part of an Aug. 31 plea deal and is expected to receive a five-year suspended prison term and three years probation when sentenced next month.
On Feb. 25, former Norwalk police Officer Shawn Morin was granted accelerated rehabilitation for a July 13, 2003, arrest in an alleged domestic dispute involving the mother of his child that occurred at police headquarters while he was off duty. Morin, a 10-year police veteran, was fired Aug. 29, 2003, but is appealing his termination. Under accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation, no guilty plea is required and charges are dropped and erased from the defendant's record if he complies with all conditions for a specified period.
Three days after arresting Morin, Norwalk police arrested former Officer Jose Melendez, who had retired the previous month after nearly 25 years with the department. Melendez was the former treasurer of the Norwalk Guardians Association, an organization representing minority police officers, from which he allegedly stole about $33,500 over a six-year period.
Melendez returned the money he allegedly stole and received accelerated rehabilitation Nov. 19. Melendez and Morin were each ordered to serve two years of the special form of probation.
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