 
|
Former Hartford Police Chief Testifies In TrialHis testimony came in the trial of Hartford Officer Michael Ancona, who is accused in the Feb. 14, 1997, beating of James H. Wilson in Bloomfield. On Thursday, Bloomfield police officer Arthur Fredericks identified Ancona as the officer who hit Wilson over the head with the butt of his service pistol. Friday, O'Callaghan testified that he agreed to Ancona's request that he take responsibility for what Ancona did. Ancona is charged with assault and faces prison time if convicted, a punishment he might not have faced had he accepted a plea bargain before the trial. He has been suspended without pay since the incident. O'Callaghan acknowledged during cross-examination that, in exchange for his testimony for the state, he was allowed to resign from the police department without disciplinary action and is on a jail-free probation in which his record will be erased if he doesn't get into trouble. Wilson, who had been drinking on the night of Feb. 14, 1997, and had been arrested in the past for driving while intoxicated, was spotted in an area of high drug activity in Hartford, misidentified as a dangerous wanted man and chased into Bloomfield, police said. He was beaten unconscious, even though eyewitnesses said he didn't fight with police. Wilson suffered permanent damage to his right eye. The incident occurred near Bloomfield police headquarters and part of it was videotaped by a camera inside a Bloomfield police cruiser. |
Hartford Residents Protest Removal Of Virgin Mary Shrine"It was built on public property; that is illegal," Mayor Michael P. Peters told the crowd, many of whom had spent most of the previous night watching the shrine being removed piece by piece by city workers. The shrine was erected in honor of an image of the Virgin Mary supposedly found in a nearby locust tree. "We want the house back," said Juan Ramon Gordils, the unofficial keeper of the shrine and the man who first claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary. For shrine supporters, the case had long since transcended state vs. religion. Over the last several months, it had become one of respect and power, and the lack of both in the community of believers. "If people in power would ever pay attention to this community, things like this wouldn't happen," Carlos Velasquez said. "There is no communication between us." "This isn't anti-Latino," said Bob Iacomacci, who asked why the city of Hartford allows so many vendors without permits in public parks. "This is anti-Catholic." Many of the 50 protesters said they felt misled by a meeting a week earlier in which the city discussed issues of safety. "It made us think that there was a chance of leaving it there," Inez Diaz said. "But then they removed it without warning." Peters, however, said later Friday that the city never had any intention of allowing the shrine to stay. City Manager Saundra Kee Borges said the city had hoped that interest in the shrine would diminish. But as traffic increased and worshipers began bringing candles, she said, officials could no longer allow the shrine. "We probably should have taken it down immediately, but we were trying to be sensitive to the community," she said. Shrine supporters said the betrayal they feel goes beyond city hall to some community leaders who promised to step up for their cause. The crowd waited for half an hour Friday for Carmen Sierra, who arrived at Colt Park late Thursday and urged gatherers to protest Friday morning. Many of the protesters were among nearly 100 believers who had waited throughout the night to gather rosaries and flowers that city workers left strewn along the site of the shrine. "The way the city handled the whole thing was so disrespectful," Diaz said. "We will continue to pray," said Gordils, who remains hopeful that a church might one day be built on the site. "We will get something even more beautiful." |
Home |
News |
Opinions |
Features |
Arts |
Sports
Archives |
Staff |
Contact Us |
Trincoll Journal