By Richard Weizel
Connecticut Post Online
STRATFORD, Conn. — When Stratford Police Officer Justin LoSchiavo crashed his patrol car into another vehicle on June 6, it provoked a chorus of questions about how a cop with a history of seizure disorders was hired in the first place.
Documents and interviews obtained by the Connecticut Post reveal:
• LoSchiavo, son of the city’s recently retired deputy police chief, suffers from seizures, including one he had during another accident in 2004, before he was hired;
• A doctor evaluated LoSchiavo when he applied to the force in 2005 and found him unfit to serve as a police officer because of his medical condition. He was rejected for hiring at that time, despite a threat of a possible lawsuit from his father, then Police Lt. Joseph LoSchiavo, who was later named deputy chief;
• Joseph LoSchiavo later ordered another prehiring investigation, advising the investigator not to contact any doctors;
• Justin LoSchiavo’s own doctor warned him not to “perform any activity which could cause serious injury” if he lost consciousness;
• Mayor James R. Miron disregarded warnings from then-Police Chief Michael Imbro and former Chief Administrative Officer Ben Branyan, hired LoSchiavo in June 2006 over their objections.
“This was just an accident waiting to happen,” Imbro said of Loschiavo’s June 6 accident. “And we can all be thankful nobody was seriously injured or killed.”
It is unclear whether LoSchiavo’s medical condition played any role in the accident. He was not responding to an emergency call at the time, police said.
Stratford Police Chief John Buturla refused to release a copy of the report from the accident, citing an “ongoing investigation” and would not say whether LoSchiavo, 31, remains on active duty. Town Attorney Richard Buturla, the chief’s brother, did not return calls seeking comment.
Miron said no town employees have been hired without appropriate medical clearance, but declined comment on why LoSchiavo was hired despite warnings against doing so by doctors and top administrators. “What upsets me most is the illegal release of this officer’s background information to the media and the public,” he said.
On June 6, according to Stratford police, LoSchiavo rear-ended a car being driven by Josephine Cicerale, of Stratford, at the intersection of Stratford and Beardsley avenues. After the accident, LoSchiavo drove the cruiser to a nearby car dealership and stopped. Cicerale was not hurt, police said. The crash occurred on Stratford Day, which drew thousands of people along Main Street.
Police Capt. Kenneth Bakalar said LoSchiavo suffered minor injuries during the accident, and was taken to St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, where he was treated and released. He has not yet returned to work, Bakalar said, currently out on “injury leave” resulting from the crash.
Top police sources, however, say LoSchiavo’s driver’s license has been seized by the department pending a medical review. “I can neither confirm nor deny that,” Bakalar said.
However, Bakalar said in addition to the accident injuries there is a second medical condition (regarding LoSchiavo) “that I have been instructed by the chief not to talk about. That has to come from him.”
But Buturla declined comment on it too.
“While our Accident and Reconstruction team investigates the crash we cannot comment on any aspect of the investigation or the officer’s status,” said Buturla. Numerous calls to Buturla in recent days seeking more information have not been returned.
Joseph and Justin LoSchiavo also did not return numerous calls seeking comment.
Imbro and Branyan said that in 2005, the department conducted a prehiring investigation of LoSchiavo and the resulting report recommended that he not be hired, citing both his ongoing medical condition and the 2004 accident. They say they warned Miron in 2006 against hiring LoSchiavo because he suffers from a seizure disorder that doctors indicated could be dangerous to himself, the public and other officers.
Hired by Miron
But Imbro and Branyan said Joseph LoSchiavo ordered a second investigation, which resulted in his son being hired by Miron.
The deputy chief “specifically advised” the detective, Craig Nilan, who was conducting that inquiry not to contact any doctors, Imbro and other police sources told the Post. The senior LoSchiavo also warned an officer conducting the first investigation that his son could not be rejected for medical reasons, and threatened a lawsuit under the provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Miron hired LoSchiavo, whose mother is Stratford Human Resources Assistant Linda LoSchiavo, shortly after the second evaluation. He later hired Joseph LoSchiavo Jr., Justin’s brother, as a police officer.
Imbro, responding to the accident, added, “It’s not that [Justin] LoSchiavo is a bad guy. He just never should have been hired as a police officer for medical reasons, and honestly, we also had better candidates.
“After the mayor took office it was out of my hands. He was the one who made the final decision, which is very rare for a mayor involving the hiring of a police officer. When we had the town manager government everything went through our department, and he just signed off on it unless there was a major problem.”
The first report on LoSchiavo, conducted in 2005 by Police Detective Nelson Dinihanian, who retired shortly afterward, includes confirmation by two doctors - one hired by the town and the other LoSchiavo’s personal physician - stated the applicant’s condition could be dangerous to himself and others.
“A report from Dr. [Joel] Kunkel [of Med Now in Bridgeport] stated he would not release applicant for medical reasons and that he ‘is not recommended’ for employment,” Dinihanian states in his report. “Based on this information we are not going forward with the background investigation,” the report concludes.
Dr. Philip Micalizzi, of Bridgeport, whom the report states has been LoSchiavo’s doctor since 2004 “for a medical disorder that began at age 13" advised LoSchiavo “not to perform any activity which could cause serious injury were unconsciousness to be lost,” the report states.
The doctor also states that “although complete seizure control can never be guaranteed, the patient is now in very stable condition.”
Dinihanian, who resides in Stratford, confirmed last week the contents of the report are accurate and said after he submitted his recommendation not to hire LoSchiavo, his supervisor, former Police Captain Andrew Knapp, told him to discontinue the investigation because LoSchiavo’s medical condition precluded his consideration as a police officer.
“I was stunned when I heard he had been hired a few months after I retired, because the medical issues were very clear. No one with his medical condition should be hired to a job in which they have to carry a gun, and regularly drive,” Dinihanian said. “When I heard about the accident last week my first thought was, thank God no one was killed. My second thought was, hey, I told them so.”
So did former Town Manager and Stratford’s first CAO Ben Branyan, who is now the chief operating officer for the Stratford school district.
“When the police department made its recommendation not to hire the applicant for medical reasons, I was in complete agreement,” said Branyan, who was town manager at the time, but preparing for the transition to a mayoral form of government voters had approved in a referendum. After taking office in December, 2005, Miron appointed Branyan the town’s first CAO, and later made Joseph LoSchiavo deputy chief.
“During the second investigation the mayor and I spoke about Justin LoSchiavo and I reiterated my original opinion he should not be hired based on the medical information we had received,” Branyan said. “After that, it was out of my hands.”
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