IF ONLY THEY HAD MADE HIM A DEPUTY CHIEF

It appears that HPD's problem child may be at it again. According to HPD sources, Sergeant Eric Smith, who found himself  being investigated recently after firing a bullet through his neighbors home, is once again the subject of an Internal Affairs Investigation.

You can read more about the bullet through the neighbors house  incident here

According to sources, Hartford Police Officer Stackowitz had just finished putting fuel in his cruiser at the DPW Yard on Jennings Road. As he got back on I-91 South from Jennings Road to head back to his area, he observed a black pickup truck pass him at speeds he apparently estimated in excess of 100MPH.

According to HPD sources, the officer in a fully marked cruiser , attempted to catch up to the pickup truck and was able to "close the gap" once he got close to the speeding truck, he activated his overhead lights in an attempt to stop the truck. In the area of the Capitol Area exit, the truck quickly merged to the right, crossing four lanes of traffic and took the exit leading to Pulaski Circle.

  The vehicle quickly took the Prospect Street exit and made a left onto Prospect Street, heading south. Running the red light at the top of the exit. Shortly after turning onto Prospect Street the driver of the black truck apparently  hit a patch of ice, lost control of the vehicle and hit a light pole snapping it off at the base. The light pole then apparently fell across Prospect Street.

The officer positioned his cruiser to protect the scene as the driver stepped out of the black truck. The officer, who according to sources reported that the driver of the truck was staggering and was bleeding, began to approach his cruiser. The officer then recognized the driver as Sergeant Eric Smith of the Hartford Police Department. Smith handed the officer his documents  and the officer began the process of documenting the accident.

The officer also then apparently notified a street supervisor, Sergeant Dennis O'Conner of the incident. Once Smith heard that O'Connor was responding, according to sources, Smith asked another officer at the scene, Officer Small, to help him carry the light post to the curb so he could leave. I'm not sure who would willingly touch a live aluminum electrical pole and move it but, Smith is a Sergeant and the new officer was most likely intimidated.

Smith , after leaving the scene, proceeded to his home in Windsor. The shift supervisor for the night, LT. Pleasant, paid Smith a visit  at his home in Windsor. Again , according to sources, Smith would only talk to Pleasent through the glass storm door and wouldn't open the door or talk to Pleasent face to face.

It would be interesting to know where Smith was before his attempt to allude the Police and his crash. Most people injured in accidents and bleeding , willingly  go to the hospital for treatment, unless you are worried about the police getting their hands on your blood samples through a search warrant and charging you with DUI.

 I have FOI'd the incident report, the radio recordings and the dash cam video which is reported to show the entire incident. I will post that as soon as I receive it.

I have to ask the question though, is this guy really the right person to be supervising anyone., especially his recent examples of his decision making?

And as far as the title of this posting, this is one of the 3 officers that a Council member was pushing to be promoted to Deputy Chief recently