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Wednesday, July 19, 2017

QUICK WORK BY HPD- SUSPECT IN CUSTODY

 
 
Jorge Burgos, a Hartford resident is in custody.

Burgos was apparently a "person of interest" wanted in questioning related to Sunday afternoons homicide of 63 year old Jeff Worrell.

Burgos was initially located in a stolen vehicle on Coleman Drive in Hartford. Burgos fled as he was approached by officers, ramming two HPD cruisers and eluding police. The stolen vehicle was eventually located several hours later , unoccupied, on Harold Street in Hartford. The vehicle was located a short distance from Burgos's mothers house at 597 Blue Hills Avenue. A subsequent search of that address turned up empty for Burgos.

Burgos was eventually located later in the day and taken into custody on charges related to the earlier chase and vehicle theft.

No charges have been filed yet for any  involvement in the homicide.

Monday, July 17, 2017

THE OLYMPIAN AND MY SISTER ON "WE THE PEOPLE"

This weeks "WE THE PEOPLE" program is one that I am very proud of.

 Not so much because of the program, but more because of the content.

 My guests today were my sister, Sheryl Haraghey and her son Andrew.

Andrew has qualified for the Winter Paralympics to be held in South Korea in 2018 Andrew is a downhill Alpine skier.

 For regular readers of the blog, I have written about Andrew's endeavors as he has worked toward his goal of competing in the Paralympics. Andrew and his fellow skiers will be competing on the same slopes and venues used weeks earlier by the 2018 Winter Olympic competitors.

 In this interview we discuss Andrew's life with Cerebral Palsy and his mother and his family's efforts to support him in his quest to ski and eventually compete.

 Andrew is an amazing young man who has met life's challenges head on and excelled in meeting his goals and has been an inspiration to almost everyone who has had the opportunity to meet him.

 You can read more about his efforts at http://andrewraces.com or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/andrew.races There is also a link there if anyone would wish to help sponsor Andrew in his fundraising efforts for costs associated with the Paralympics  (roughly $10,000.00) https://www.gofundme.com/andrewraces. To those who have been there the last several years supporting Andrew's quest, Thank you. And or those of you willing to donate, Thank you in advance for helping make Andrew's dreams and goals come true.

 

Friday, July 7, 2017

UPDATE: JIMMY NGO TERMINATED FROM HARTFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT

According to sources within the Hartford Fire Department, Jimmy Ngo has officially been terminated from the Hartford Fire Department this afternoon.

Sources claim the decision was made based on information from the Connecticut State Police, given to HFD  that Ngo had admitted in both written statements and through audio and video recordings that he was shot on April 21st as the result of a "drug deal gone bad".

That has yet to be proven and the suspect arrested in the shooting seems less than credible, to me at least, in his statements..

This termination may prove problematic for the City eventually. Although Hartford does have a "zero tolerance" policy for drug use, there is no direct evidence that the drug deal was factual and actually did occur.

If Jimmy Ngo was an alleged drug dealer, there is no place nor should there be, a spot for him at HFD. If it is proven that there was a drug deal in place, so be it, the termination is warranted.

Hopefully the accusations will be proven baseless and if so, Ngo should be restored to his position, with full back pay and benefits.

The HFD contract apparently does not allow for discipline for "off duty" incidents unless it involves a felony arrest. At this point there has been no arrest for Ngo and no indication that any is planned by CSP.

Hartford Fire Chief Reginalg Freeman issued the following brief statement this afternoon:

 "On Wednesday, July 05, 2017, the Hartford fire department conducted an internal investigation pertaining to one of its members (Jimmy Ngo) that was allegedly involved in activity that is in violation of city and department policy. The facts obtained from this internal investigation warranted disciplinary action from the fire department’s administration. As a result of the findings, the member’s employment with the City of Hartford has been terminated, effective immediately. The City of Hartford and Hartford Fire Department has a zero tolerance for violation of its said policies that are counterintuitive to the hard work, dedication and sacrifices made by the greater body. "

THE JIMMY NGO SHOOTING, SOMETHING DOESN'T MAKE SENSE

I am not always correct, and I can admit when I am wrong, but my gut is telling me something stinks here.

Usually when  I post a blog story I get plenty of calls about the subject of the posting. Many of the calls are usually from people familiar with the topic. Some pro, some con, but usually plenty of different opinions.

Jimmy Ngo was an exception to that. Now I have never met Jimmy, but plenty of people who know him have called me though. 100% of the people who called said they never knew or heard of him being involved with drugs. They all painted a picture of a hard working conscientious firefighter, committed to his career. I was told he always had a smile on his face and was professional and polite.

Most of his colleagues were surprised when the word of his shooting on Thursday April 20th began spreading throughout the Hartford Fire Department. People were totally amazed when the details of the arrest of Jesus Perez, the alleged shooter, began emerging this week. Perez's defense seems to be a picture he painted of a drug deal gone bad.

Those details are spelled out in the arrest warrant affidavit that led to Perez's arrest on attempted murder, assault, robbery and firearms  charges this week.

It gets somewhat5 confusing when Detective Meier uses the first six pages of the affidavit to attempt to establish the background and the motive for the shooting. That theory sounds more like the opening of a John Grisham novel. Even though there are numerous references to the drug deal gone bad, there appears to be no attempt to verify the "third party" drug dealers identity, just that he was present. There is also no mention of the type of drugs, the alleged quantity or even if the location Perez claims the drugs were obtained was even a known drug location.

I know, I know, the "narcotics" and the "unknown third party " all disappeared after the shooting according  to the eventually arrested shooter Jesus Perez. But that  seems odd to me that several pages were allotted to Perez's theory of the crime, but nothing to attempt to verify that theory. and if you read the affidavit, Perez seems to have a credibility problem. Why would someone who claims he just witnessed a possible shooting not even call the Police, even  anonymously if needed.

The part that confuses me though is that eventually revealed in paragraph 16. Detective Meier seems to make an abrupt U-turn and lays out a totally different version of the shooting, which seems to be a more factual version than the Grisham novel laid out previously. Jimmy Ngo identified Jesus Perez as the shooter . Ngo seems to make the claim it was because he told Perez he was cutting off the money train he had been providing to him.

Paragraph 16 also once again mentions the elusive "drug deal gone bad". Detective Meier states that the illicit drug deal was "several months" in the planning, yet the timeline doesn't add up. Roughly less than 2 months had gone by since the time Perez claims they began planning the drug deal in early February and the shooting on April 20th. Hardly the several months detailed in the warrant.

And the warrant affidavit is specific about the video obtained from surrounding businesses detailing the times of vehicle movement on the property, yet there is no mention of the vehicle containing the  "unidentified third party". Could that be because there was no third party and the tale weaved by Jesus Perez was an attempt to just cover the shooting of Jimmy Ngo?

The charges in the arrest warrant would seem to confirm Jimmy Ngo's version, resulting in the arrest of Jesus Perez.

I would also question the legitimacy of Ngo's statements and how they would hold up in court considering Ngo had been shot in the head and was most likely under some serious medication at the time. And I would also wonder how someone could waive their Miranda rights under such conditions.

Sources familiar with the incident have told me that Ngo emphatically denies making any statements  about his involvement in at drug deal, as claimed by the alleged shooter Jesus Perez. CSP claims there are audio and video recordings of NGO's statements, as well as written statements. It will be interesting to hear those recordings and see if Ngo appears lucid or disoriented in them.

 Any one who watches any television knows that you should "lawyer up"  under such circumstances, yet Jesus Perez laid out the details of the alleged "drug deal gone bad" in his first telephone conversation with the State Police detectives as detailed in paragraph 10. Perez spilled his guts to CSP Detective McGlynn less than 14 hours after the shooting, in a phone call none the less.

I know that the facts might look bad for Jimmy Ngo right now, but hopefully the people who called me in support of Jimmy will be proven correct as the facts unwind. There will be a quite a few disappointed people who had high hopes for a young Hartford Firefighter if it doesn't.

You can read the arrest warrant affidavit here

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

ARREST MADE IN SHOOTING OF HARTFORD FIREFIGHTER-THE ARREST WARRANT APPLICATION

 
 
I have to say, this is not what I expected, but everyone is innocent until proven guilty and I think there is still a lot more to come out on this.

The following statement was issued by Hartford's Fire Chief Reginald Freeman this afternoon


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Arresting Affidavit
 
Here is the official statement from Fire Chief Reginald Freeman regarding the today’s arraignment and released affidavit:
 
“I am conducting a thorough investigation into any improper conduct related to this incident in conjunction with other city agencies. The Hartford Fire Department expects all employees to live by the highest ethical and professional standards at all times.  There is absolutely zero tolerance for the kind of illegal activity depicted/alleged in the arresting affidavit.   By no means, should this incident be reflective of the hard work and sacrifice that is demonstrated on a daily basis by the men and women of the Hartford Fire Department. After the investigation is complete, if warranted, this administration will determine what disciplinary measures need to be taken.”
 
 
"We serve to save"
 
The arrest warrant application for Jesus Perez: