I guess the answer to that is probably yes, as it seems that the long awaited Rudewicz Report may be submitted this week.
But putting the report aside for the moment, Chief Daryl K. Roberts must sit in his office some days and shake his head asking "WHY ME?". A lot of the controversy is his own doing, many of them caused by questionable decisions he has made as to those he surrounds himself with. The latest one though I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he had very little control over.
It would almost be a comical situation if it didn't have the potential to turn very bad very quick. It seems that, according to several HPD sources, Connecticut State Treasurer Denise Nappier was charged with Operating an Unregistered Motor Vehicle, Misuse of Plates, Operating Without Insurance and her vehicle was towed and her Connecticut License plates were seized last Thursday night by a Hartford Police Officer.
I don't have the actual copy of the incident report, I will hopefully have that tomorrow, so in the meantime I won't name the HPD Officer. The sources that spoke with me were not sure what the probable cause, if any, to stop Ms. Nappier was. They all thought it was bizarre the way the situation was handled and no supervisors stepped in to correct the incident before it went too far.
I originally thought Nappier was fair game if she was operating her personal vehicle without the proper plates. It seems that wasn't the case though. It was her state issued vehicle with the single digit "Connecticut Official" license plate. I think Nappier is either plate number "4" or "5". Right there, that should have immediately raised red flags for anyone paying attention.
The only thing worse would have been that she was towing plate "1", Governor Malloy, or "2" Lieutenant Governor Wyman. But nope, no red flags for anyone. Apparently, if the stop was called in, no supervisor heard it or questioned it. The wrecker was called to tow the state vehicle, the plates were seized and Ms. Nappier was sent on her way to walk home with her summons in hand.
Even more interesting though is the fact that the officer's sergeant signed off on her report and approved it, what HPD calls a "10-9". Still no red flags. I would think my first question after reading the report would have been "YOU DID WHAT?". And then immediately have set about implementing some serious damage control, first of which to make sure the State Treasurer had arrived safely home after she was left walking.
It seems that sometime Friday, Hartford County State's Attorney Gail Hardy with one of her Inspectors in tow, paid a visit to Chief Roberts at his office. From what I am told, it wasn't the most cordial visit between the two (they seldom are) and the Inspector was sent to retrieve the plate from the barrel they are tossed in before they are returned to DMV.
As of now, it seems as though the entire situation was more of a clerical error
caused by a new vehicle issued to Nappier and the paperwork hadn't caught up with DMV yet. It just makes you wonder if anyone is paying attention.
Why was the car even sent on the road if the proper paperwork wasn't in place, but also when does common sense kick in to figure out the situation?
Like I've said before Chief, it can't get much worse
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