TODDLER DEATH
Officials in Connecticut have ruled the methadone overdose death of a 3-year-old boy a homicide. The state medical examiner’s office says Leon Lapierre, of Stafford, died in April of acute methadone intoxication. Methadone is used to help wean people off heroin. State police say no charges have been filed.
POLICE SHOOTING
The father of a 15-year-old boy killed by a Connecticut officer has filed a legal notice saying he intends to sue the city of Bridgeport over his son’s death. Lawyers for Juan Negron have filed the required notice with the city. Police Chief Armando Perez has said rookie officer James Boulay opened fire May 9 when he was nearly run over by a stolen car driven by Jayson Negron. A passenger in the car, 21-year-old Julian Fyffe, also was shot, but survived and is suing the city.
RACIAL INSENSITIVITY
An investigation prompted by a fire chief’s refusal to hang a photograph of the department’s first black chief on a wall of honor has faulted him for racial insensitivity and concluded that minority firefighters have reason to perceive racial bias in the department. The city of New Britain commissioned the investigation in May after receiving a complaint from an African-American firefighter who was disciplined for removing the portraits of five other white former chiefs that hung in a hallway at the department headquarters. The report said the controversy suggests “serious level of racial insensitivity by the chief.”
NORWICH ARREST
A man police say threatened an infant with a large rock while robbing a Norwich convenience store in January has been arrested. Police say 28-year-old Kevin Mason was returned to Connecticut on Tuesday following his extradition from Wisconsin. He was held on $35,000 bond pending a Wednesday court appearance on charges including second-degree robbery and risk of injury to a minor.
