ORBE EXPLAINS
MONTVILLE, Conn. (AP) – A high school where a former substitute teacher is charged with running a student “fight club” has placed another administrator on leave, but officials say it is for an unrelated matter. Assistant Superintendent Laurie Pallin said Tuesday that Montville High School acting assistant principal Phil Orbe is being investigated for comments made to a student. She did not specify the nature of the comments. But Orbe tells “The Day” that while reprimanding a student for having a backpack in the halls, he said in a joking manner, “Do I have to throw you down the hallway?” He says he has a good relationship with the student, who understood the joke. Three administrators were charged last week with failing to report abuse in connection with the “fight club.”
UNTIMELY DEATH INVESTIGATED
(New London, CT)–Police in New London are investigating the death of a teenager. Police say the 17-year-old male was found unresponsive in his home Monday night. The teen was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Police are not releasing any information about the circumstances of the death at this time, only saying the death is untimely.
PEQUOT OFFICIAL ARRESTED
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe’s Chief of Staff Antonio Beltran has been charged with drunken driving in a crash with a train last week in Santa Monica, Calif. that left his two teenage sons injured, one critically. Beltran of Waterford is facing several charges including furnishing alcohol to a minor. Beltran has ties to Southern California and is being held on $380,000 bond. He has a history of charges for multiple motor vehicle violations. His criminal record includes a felony conviction for a 1980 stabbing of a youth in Southern California for which he served a four-year prison term.
LEDYARD DUMPS SEAT
Facing as much as a $2,000 fee hike from the Southeast Area Transit District, the town of Ledyard will withdraw from the mass transit provider by June. Currently, there are no plans in place to pursue an alternative town-provided transportation option in the absence of SEAT. Ledyard has been a SEAT member for 43 years but currently only two riders per day are using the one SEAT bus route, which travels north and south along Route 12.
CAR WINDS UP IN POND
Members of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection are investigating how a car ended up in Gorton Pond around 3:15 Tuesday afternoon. East Lyme Police Chief Mike Finkelstein said a female driver had exited the car before it began to roll toward the pond. Finkelstein said DEEP took the case because the pond is home to a state boat launch. DEEP officials say no state property was damaged during the incident. The investigation remains active.
