Former chief's car is towed

By AARON LEO
ConnPost Staff writer
Article Last Updated: 10/22/2008 10:34:27 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT -- Was it a parting shot or a mistake?

Either way, the BMW owned by recently departed Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood was towed during a farewell party organized Tuesday night in his honor by the Greater Bridgeport NAACP at Miss Thelma's on Fairfield Avenue.

An official of Mid-Town Auto Body & Sales, which towed the car, said Wednesday the car was towed because it was parked in a lot that required a sticker.

Someone else may have parked the car in the lot while Norwood was at the dinner, said the man, who declined to identify himself. He added that the towing firm wouldn't have towed the car if its owner was known.

The voice mail for Norwood's city-issued cell phone was full and no message for him could be left.

Norwood resigned last week to become police chief in Richmond, Va., after 2 1/2 years in Bridgeport, where his father had been a top administrator in the city's school system. He was Bridgeport's youngest chief at age 39, but left to take the Virginia post because it is a "good opportunity."

But many officers had been critical of Norwood's leadership of the department, and in August more than half the members of Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159 approved a "no-confidence" motion in the chief and Mayor Bill Finch.

To close a growing city budget gap, Finch has ordered 15 police officers, some high ranking, be laid off. The layoffs are expected to take effect Friday. He also had ordered Norwood to cut overtime spending in half, and the chief disbanded the Traffic Division.

But Norwood was praised during the farewell dinner. About 20 people, including a federal prosecutor, attended the event.

NAACP Chapter President Craig Kelly said the chief was upset, like anyone would be, when he learned that his car had been towed. "He was parked in an area that he wasn't supposed to be in," he said.

However, towing the car shouldn't have been the first course of action, Kelly added.

"The reality of it is that the Police Department knew it was the chief's car. They could have easily called him," Kelly said. "I'm not mad about it. I'm disappointed they didn't show a better level of courtesy to one of their own."

But now it's water under the bridge.

"The bottom line is he got [the car] back. He doesn't have to worry about them no more," Kelly said.

Neither acting Police Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. nor a department spokesman were available for comment Wednesday evening. Finch declined comment because he hadn't heard about the incident.