See! Sometimes they do treat fellow officers just like they would any other citizen....

Barfmaker: Wow, that's a lot of fuss and a lot of time and money being spent and a lot of expensively trained people taken out of service over a frickin hose.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Wow people complain about the police being too lax when dealing with their own, now they're saying they're being too harsh.

Which is it?

/waiting for the police-haters to come out of the wood-work/

sems740, I have a way to test that out! Go steal a hose from your local police department and let me know how it turns out :)

Further proof that the terrorists have won.

So as long as the cops are only stealing small items I guess it's supposed to be OK?

POPCORN! GET THE POPCORN!

He's a Muslim pig. Heh.

Solution: Pay the cost of the hose as punishment and return it.

Problem solved? No that would be too difficult. Lets have a trial!

I mean really..its a blasted hose and we're wasting court time and resources on this?

Sure the internal harassment thing might be an interesting angle but to come up at the trial of a hose seems...pitiful?

Subby,

The hose was not $24...it was $24.99. That's 99 cents. That makes all the difference.

//ya just can't trust subbies who are looking for greenlights to get the facts right.

well in all fairness there have been budget cuts across the nation in Public Safety Departments...They had to get their hoses for the beatings from somewhere...

Poor guys...

The only reason this guy is in trouble is due to this name "Mustafa "Moose" Salahuddin ". With a name like that, he is not really part of their "team" therefore has to be eliminated at any cost. If this guy's name was Joe Smith he will not get into any trouble at all just like every cop out there. Having said that, fark him and fark cops hope they all get shot.

If the video actually shows:

"Salahuddin then comes back, looks around, bends down, draped a jacket over the coiled, 75-foot hose - then leaves the department."

I can see retaliation. Smartly done retaliation. actually getting the person on film doing something suspicious regarding a theft investigation.

They should have just killed him and blamed OJ.

Why does a police dept even need rubber hose?

Oh, Never Mind -- Move along citizen, nothing to see here (kind of graphic -- but not really too much)

Are garden hoes what garden gnomes ban?

/Oh...hose...

Link Farked already? We're off to a good start today

Police department leaders, they said, have disliked Salahuddin since he filed a complaint more than a decade ago to wear a beard while in uniform. Salahuddin is Muslim.

First, he's an idiot for trying to wear a beard as a cop. Second, of course they're targeting him, they'd defend a murder in a uniform as long as the murderer doesn't mess with the status quo.

repost for those who can't access the story.

Target' Or Petty Thief?

by Eugene Driscoll | Mar 15, 2010 10:37 pm

Message:
Thought you might be interested in this: 'Target' Or Petty Thief?

Does the video show him stealing the hose or just looking at it?

That was the debate Monday in Superior Court in Derby, where police officer Mustafa "Moose" Salahuddin is on trial on sixth-degree larceny charges. Salahuddin is accused of stealing a newly purchased garden hose. He's been on administrative leave since his 2008 arrest.

Salahuddin says he didn't do it. He and his lawyer, Rob Serafinowicz, believe he was targeted by local law enforcement leaders because he has a history of conflicting with police department brass.

Police department leaders, they said, have disliked Salahuddin since he filed a complaint more than a decade ago to wear a beard while in uniform. Salahuddin is Muslim.

It's a charge police have repeatedly denied.

Salahuddin also has a discrimination complaint pending against the department with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.

If convicted of the misdemeanor larceny charge, Salahuddin faces a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Target?

During the first day of the trial Monday, Judge Eddie Rodriguez, Jr. reminded Serafinowicz and prosecutor Paul Gaetano that the case before them was about whether Salahuddin stole the hose, valued at $24.99.

The trial was not about alleged in-fighting at the Ansonia Police Department.

"I will not allow these undercurrents to come into this trial," Judge Rodriguez said early Monday, after ordering Salahuddin to remove his Ansonia Police Department uniform jacket. The judge said wearing the jacket in court would prejudice jurors.

"This is a simple question of larceny in the sixth-degree. Move along," Rodriguez told the defense attorney later in the day, as Serafinowicz asked Ansonia police Lt. Andrew Cota about any harassment issues with the police department.

Serafinowicz did elicit testimony from Patricia Rowley, a radio dispatcher who works the midnight shift at the police department, about what happens to people "targeted" by police department management.

"It depends on who you are in the department," Rowley said. "If they put a target on your back, they'll do anything they can to get you out."

Rowley said she had no personal knowledge of Salahuddin being a target - but had heard talk about it.

"A garden hose? Come on," she said about the investigation into Salahuddin's alleged theft.

The Hijacked Hose

Monday's testimony established when the hose went missing and how Cota began an immediate investigation into its disappearance.

Ansonia public works foreman Judd Blaze was the first to testify Monday. Blaze said he purchased two new garden hoses for the police department maintenance person on May 14, 2008.

The next witness was Joe DiVincenzo, the maintenance worker at the police department. He said he put the newly-purchased hose behind a door near a stairwell in the police department.

When he returned to work the next morning, May 15, one hose was gone. He searched, then informed Blaze, who told him to tell police department supervisors.

DiVincenzo said at some point Salahuddin told him he had used the hose briefly during his overnight shift to prop open an exit door.

After learning about the hose the morning of Thursday, May 15, Cota said he instructed Sgt. Louis Owens to write a message on a dry erase board within the department.

The message informed police officers that a hose was missing and that Cota wanted it back by Monday - or he'd launch an investigation.

The Video

Cota, upon learning the hose was missing, reviewed video surveillance footage from a camera near the spot where the maintenance man had left the hose.

The video, according to Cota's testimony, showed Salahuddin checking out the hose at about 5 a.m., then walking down a hallway into a room.

Salahuddin then comes back, looks around, bends down, draped a jacket over the coiled, 75-foot hose - then leaves the department.

After watching the video, Cota talked to Lt. Wayne Williams. They decided to search the building for the hose one more time.

Cota then called police Chief Kevin Hale, who was not working that day.

Cota said Hale told him he would get back to him, which he did.

"The chief's decision was that the state police would investigate," Cota said.

On May 20, the hose was discovered inside a box of toilet paper rolls in the police department's basement - a spot already searched May 15, according to testimony from DeVincenzo.

Serafinowicz v Cota

Serafinowicz had the surveillance video replayed for the jury in "real time." The initial showings had been in slow motion.

The hose cannot be seen in the video - because it is obscured by a door. The video itself is dark with heavy shadows.

Serafinowicz indicated that Cota may have been making an assumption when he stated that Salahuddin stopped to look at the hose - given the fact there were several items behind the door, not just the garden hose.

Serafinowicz, firing questions to Cota at a quick pace, also questioned Cota's assertion that Salahuddin draped his jacket over the hose and took it before leaving the building.

He noted that Salahuddin's jacket was lying limp in his hand in the video.

"Do you see him holding any item in that video, other than his jacket?"

"No," Cota said.

Serafinowicz also asked whether anything else was happening in Ansonia while upper-level officers searched for a hose.

"There could have been," Cota said.

Finally, Cota said he ordered the message on the dry erase board erased immediately after he saw the surveillance video.

History

Serafinowicz then asked Cota about a 2002 memo he wrote to Salahuddin about the police department's harassment and discrimination policy.

The content of the memo was not revealed, but Serafinowicz said it went to whether Salahuddin trusted Cota.

"Is harassment an issue in the department?" the defense lawyer asked.

"No, I would not agree it was an issue," Cota said.

Serafinowicz asked about the meeting between Cota and Williams after Cota watched the video.

"Did Williams say we finally got him (Salahuddin)?" Serafinowicz asked.

"No," Cota said.

Serafinowicz also produced a document written sometime in the 1990s. It was apparently a letter in which Cota advised against hiring Salahuddin as a full-time police officer.

Cota said Salahuddin had served as a part-time police officer and was not reliable. He often could not work when he was needed, Cota said.

Serafinowicz said Salahuddin was dealing with the death of his son at the time of Cota's letter.

During Serafinowicz' cross-examination of Cota, Gaetano, the prosecutor, lodged a number of objections with the judge, saying the defense attorney's questions were speculative.

Coffee Spill?

The final person to testify Monday was David Blackwell, another emergency dispatcher with the police department.

He testified that awhile after the hose went missing, Salahuddin gave him a ride home in a patrol car.

The topic of the hose came up, Blackwell said.

Blackwell said Salahuddin told him he had used the hose the night of its disappearance. Salahuddin had spilled coffee on the top of his patrol car. He took the cruiser and the hose to Roma pizzeria on Wakelee Avenue, Blackwell said, because the building has a hot and cold hose hook-up.

Serafinowicz pointed out that the hose entered as evidence - which was in plain view of the jury all day - was not used.

Day two testimony starts at 10 a.m. The prosecution expects to call two or three more witnesses. Among those who may testify Tuesday - Chief Kevin Hale.

The following was posted at 1:50 p.m. Monday.

A jury this afternoon saw footage from a surveillance camera inside the police department that allegedly shows an officer stealing a garden hose.

The video was prefaced with testimony from Lt. Andrew Cota and entered into evidence by prosecutor Paul Gaetano in Superior Court in Derby.

Officer Mustafa Salahuddin stands accused of stealing the hose, which went missing May 15, 2008.

Salahuddin's trial on a sixth-degree larceny charge began today. Salahuddin and his lawyer, Rob Serafinowicz, have accused the police department of targeting Salahuddin because he is Muslim.

Salahuddin was not identified as the person in the video, which shows a shadowy figure approach an area behind a closed door where the newly-purchased hose was allegedly stored. The hose itself was not visible in the security video.

Cota testified until about 1 p.m., at which time the case broke for lunch. Gaetano's questioning just before lunch centered around the use of a keypad system officers use to enter the building. The department has records of every person who uses the keypad to get in.

Testimony

Cota was the third witness called by the prosecution so far today.

Ansonia public works foreman Judd Blaze testified first. Blaze said he purchased two new garden hoses for the police department maintenance person on May 14, 2008.

The next witness was Joe DiVincenzo, the maintenance worker at the police department. He said he put the newly-purchased hose behind a door near a stairwell in the police department.

When he returned to work the next morning, one hose was gone. He searched, then informed Blaze, who told him to tell police department brass.

After learning about the hose the morning of May 15, Cota said he instructed Sgt. Louis Owens to write a message on a dry erase board within the department. The message informed police officers that a hose was missing and that Cota wanted it back by Monday - or he'd launch an investigation.

The hose was discovered inside a box of toilet paper rolls May 20 - a spot already searched May 15, according to testimony from DeVincenzo.

Serafinowicz tripped up a portion of DeVincenzo's testimony. The maintenance man had testified that he worked May 19. Serafinowicz produced a document stating DeVincenzo used May 19 as a vacation day.

Conflict

Judge Eddie Rodriguez has already warned Serafinowicz and Gaetano to stick to the charge at hand - sixth-degree larceny, a misdemeanor - and to steer away from discussions of internal issues within the Ansonia Police Department.

"I will not allow these undercurrents to come into this trial," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez made his statement out of the jury's presence, after the state objected to the fact Salahuddin wore his Ansonia Police Department uniform into court.

Gaetano read a memo from Ansonia Police Department Chief Kevin Hale. The chief sent it to Salahuddin after he was charged with larceny.

In the memo, the chief ordered Salahuddin not to present himself as an Ansonia Police Officer. Gaetano then objected to Salahuddin's decision to wear the uniform.

Rodriguez sustained the objection, saying that Salahuddin's uniform could influence the jury.

Serafinowicz initially countered Gaetano's objection by inferring the judge didn't have jurisdiction over Salahuddin's uniform.

"Anything that happens in this court, I have jurisdiction over, including what you wear," the judge told Serafinowicz.

Salahuddin left the court and changed into a long black jacket.

Early Motions

The prosecutors lost their bid to add a second misdemeanor charge against Salahuddin.

Serafinowicz objected, saying jury selection for the case ended March 10. The alleged crime happened May 2008, which gave prosecutors plenty of time to add another charge.

The judge agreed.

The judge also said he would not allow the prosecution to turn in police department card key information from May 16 to May 20.

It was a document the prosecution had apparently waited until the last minute to show to the defense.

Salahuddin faces a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine if found guilty.

Serafinowicz lost his bid to get authorities to turn over records for every arrest Salahuddin made while on the job as a police officer. The defense lawyer wanted to use the information to show that prosecutors have it in for his client.

Link farked.

"Serafinowicz did elicit testimony from Patricia Rowley, a former radio dispatcher who worked the midnight shift at the police department, about what happens to people "targeted" by police department management."

FTFT

Doesn't matter. He's a cop. He's guilty of something.

Trance750: Wow people complain about the police being too lax when dealing with their own, now they're saying they're being too harsh.

This is just about right. There is no way a person who takes an object from a store without paying for it (more commonly called a thief) should be enforcing the law.

Police need to be held to a higher standard than the people they arrest.

This appears to be a jury trial which means 12 jurors x $15/day or $180/day just for the jury. This does not include the cost of pay for any cops that testify (most likely on OT), the cost of the city lawyer, salary of the judge, stenographer, etc.

In other words, the police in their infinite wisdom, are costing tax payers around $1000/day and making the streets less safe by having officers in court.

/how much would it cost to by a private island?

IWillRuleTheWorld: This appears to be a jury trial which means 12 jurors x $15/day or $180/day just for the jury. This does not include the cost of pay for any cops that testify (most likely on OT), the cost of the city lawyer, salary of the judge, stenographer, etc.

In other words, the police in their infinite wisdom, are costing tax payers around $1000/day and making the streets less safe by having officers in court.

/how much would it cost to by buy a private island?

/before any of the grammar Nazis chime in

IWillRuleTheWorld: IWillRuleTheWorld: This appears to be a jury trial which means 12 jurors x $15/day or $180/day just for the jury. This does not include the cost of pay for any cops that testify (most likely on OT), the cost of the city lawyer, salary of the judge, stenographer, etc.

In other words, the police in their infinite wisdom, are costing tax payers around $1000/day and making the streets less safe by having officers in court.

/how much would it cost to by buy a private island?

/before any of the grammar Nazis chime in

Who chose trial by jury? Probably the defendant. From the article, there's video of the crime and the defendant doing something suspicious with the missing item.

Sounds more like:
1) the police department pressed charges to avoid a "wrongful termination" suit

2) defendant selected a jury trial in hopes of swaying a jury that he had been wrongly accused and the video tape isn't a reflection of the actions he's accused.

Not sure of a cost analysis but a wrongful termination suits can go on for years costing the county/jurisdiction more in the long run.

UNAUTHORIZED FINGER: Thanks for the paste BraveNewCheneyWorld. Much appreciated.

FTFA: "I will not allow these undercurrents to come into this trial," Judge Rodriguez said early Monday, after ordering Salahuddin to remove his Ansonia Police Department uniform jacket. The judge said wearing the jacket in court would prejudice jurors.

Interesting that he's not allowed to wear his uniform as a defendant, but if he were an arresting officer he would. I have drawn no conclusions as to his guilt or innocence, and couldn't care less (except wanting to see justice done) but this reeks of double standard. Amirite?

I don't think so. Maybe someone else can explain it better but it makes sense to me.

An arresting officer in court as there AS an officer of the law, and is on the clock. He is performing a special job and, like the judge, is intentionally shown to be a designated part of the law system.

This man will not be on-duty while he defends himself in court. He will simply be a citizen on trial. Wearing his uniform could confuse the jury into believing that his occupation is relevant when it is in fact not.

Some of you are biatching about the streets being less safe because this guy is tied up in court. I feel the streets are safer with one fewer petty thief and one fewer corrupt cop.

This is not harsh. I would want someone prosecuted if they stole my $25 whatever.

benlonghair: Trance750: Wow people complain about the police being too lax when dealing with their own, now they're saying they're being too harsh.

This is just about right. There is no way a person who takes an object from a store without paying for it (more commonly called a thief) should be enforcing the law.

Police need to be held to a higher standard than the people they arrest.

True, but it's not proven he took the hose. The trial isn't to decide his punishment, but instead whether he took the hose at all. Of course, I'm sure you know all about presumption of innocence.

Anyway, the problem isn't that cops are being held accountable. The problem is only certain cops are held accountable when they rock the boat. And by "held accountable" I mean "charges are manufactured". Just because lots of cops get away with illegal things doesn't mean we should all cheer when one is charged with something.

Crazy Joe Davola: Barfmaker: Wow, that's a lot of fuss and a lot of time and money being spent and a lot of expensively trained people taken out of service over a frickin hose.

This is why we can't have nice things.

heee :)

this is completely ridiculous... over a GD hose??

btw. love the only comment on there haha

Why aren't there other charges to insure a conviction? fark this guy. Hand in your badge and gun, you've violated the trust of the people you pretend to protect.

Geez, this is still going on? FFS it's been like, 3 years Ansonia. You hired a muslim and you knew he wasn't going to shave the beard when you hired him. Every damn resident in CT knows what's going on here except you idiots...


Ansonia is like the Tyler Tx of CT. Don't go rolling through there while black, latino, young, shifty lookin' or just about anything else. Which is sad, cause everyplace around it is pretty nice.

/so we go around it
//Hey Judge Rodriguez, the undertone of what happened at the police department is EXACTLY why this trial is taking place, and pretending otherwise makes you look like an idiot.

Salahuddin faces a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine if found guilty.

So what's he worried about? If they send him to jail, he'll get all the hose he can handle.

/aisle, please

Actually, when you read the article, it shows that the jacket that supposedly covered the hose is laying limply on his arm - which means he didn't have the garden hose there.


They just found something to hang him on. I'll bet that someone saw what happened on the monitor in realtime and thought "what is he doing with that hose"? When they realized what it looked like they hastily said "this is what we can use to get rid of him" except now it's all falling apart because of the whole "can't hire cops with high IQ's" so these numnuts can't even frame him correctly.

IWillRuleTheWorld: This appears to be a jury trial which means 12 jurors x $15/day or $180/day just for the jury.

I met a jury member today, he was trying to find the Federal Courthouse and showed me a slip of paper saying it was at 801 Broadway. We were standing at 1201 Broadway and after I told him it was 4 blocks north of us, he walked away and I saw him ask two other people for directions.

It really made me think about the phrase "My fate will be decided by 12 people who aren't smart enough to get out of jury duty".

/I'm sure there are plenty of smart people who sit on the jury as their civic duty
//only takes one to screw the whole thing up though

I was tempted to steal. In a parking lot by the university, a marvelous high-quality garden hose, brand new and still wired in a coil, was in a (what do you call those "islands" in parking lots with baby trees in them?) right next to my van and the end of another hose...obviously someone had gone to lunch leaving the job half-done and the new trees not yet watered. Obviously university property. Probably funded by my tuition. Totally unguarded. Best garden hose I have ever seen. It would have lasted for a decade or more under normal home use.

I didn't take it. I bet someone did, though.

BlackCat23:
/so we go around it
//Hey Judge Rodriguez, the undertone of what happened at the police department is EXACTLY why this trial is taking place, and pretending otherwise makes you look like an idiot.

/THIS

so, if they find him guilty will they chop off his hand? I mean, he IS muslim. I'm just askin....

jasroc: I met a jury member today, he was trying to find the Federal Courthouse and showed me a slip of paper saying it was at 801 Broadway. We were standing at 1201 Broadway and after I told him it was 4 blocks north of us, he walked away and I saw him ask two other people for directions.

Well, the courthouse is really more east than north of the McDonald's. Broadway is the dividing line between north and south for the avenues that cross it, so it's considered to run east-west, not north-south. Also, it's sort of confusing because it's not exactly four "blocks" per se. After you cross the intersection at 12th, you have to go over that really long bridge over the train tracks, so you never really cross 11th. Then 10th is a dogleg and 9th is a three way intersection. I can see why if you told the guy to just go "four blocks north" he would assume you had no idea what you were talking about and were just guessing. Just sayin'.

/has spent all of four hours in your city in my entire life
//Google street view FTW

Try actually READING the story rather than skimming it. It's pretty clear that he DIDN'T steal the hose, and any evidence to the contrary has been manufactured {falsified}. In the end, this is going to cost the city a lot more {hundreds of thousands at least} than the cost of the trial. His civil rights have clearly been violated, there are dozens of attorneys salivating over the chance to be a part of the lawsuit, which the plaintiff will OBVIOUSLY win, and rightfully so. It's unfortunate that the citizens of Ansonia have such a corrupt PD.

lycanth: Try actually READING the story rather than skimming it. It's pretty clear that he DIDN'T steal the hose, and any evidence to the contrary has been manufactured {falsified}. In the end, this is going to cost the city a lot more {hundreds of thousands at least} than the cost of the trial. His civil rights have clearly been violated, there are dozens of attorneys salivating over the chance to be a part of the lawsuit, which the plaintiff will OBVIOUSLY win, and rightfully so. It's unfortunate that the citizens of Ansonia have such a corrupt PD.

What's really frustrating is there's a very real issue regarding the man's religion, and how all that information suddenly just disappeared at the first hearing. It started very simply by the idiots in Ansonia knowingly hiring a Muslim man, and had agreed that due to this, he could keep his beard so long as it was kempt. Then they renegged. When he fought this, suddenly all this crap about a garden hose came up out of farking no where.

And trust me, people around here haven't forgotten. Ansonia PD is hands down one of the most hated in the state, and has been on the bad side of various investigations in the past. I'm rooting for the guy, personally. His career, life, and i'm sure bank account, have been destroyed because of these wife cheating bigots(there was another case a few years ago, guy caught an APD Officer farking *his* wife while on duty, in the cop car. The cop later came to his house and arrested him. They settled out of court...)

Oh, hey, not guilty! Who'da thunk it?