'Record of Dishonesty' Spells End for Stratford Cop

Justin LoSchiavo, the former Stratford police officer who was fired in 2010 for lying to town doctors after crashing his patrol car in the fits of a seizure, will not be returning to the force.

The state Appellate Court ruled in favor of the town this week, reversing a Superior Court ruling in October 2011 that ordered the town to reinstate LoSchiavo.

"As my administration has maintained all along...LoSchiavo's admission that he lied to and misled town doctors rendered him unfit to serve as police officer in our town," Mayor John A. Harkins said in a statement after this week's ruling.

On June 6, 2009, LoSchiavo suffered a seizure while driving his patrol car, causing the front of his vehicle to crash into the rear of a parked car at a Stratford intersection, according to the Connecticut Post.

Before LoSchiavo was hired in 2006, a screening officer noted a history of seizures with the applicant, but when LoSchiavo went to a town-recommended neurologist after the 2009 crash he did not disclose that history to the doctor, which is a violation of police department policy and resulted in his firing, the Post reported.

In his statement, Harkins called the initial hiring of LoSchiavo by former Mayor James R. Miron "dubious." According to the Post:

LoSchiavo was hired by the Miron administration in June 2006, despite being rejected earlier as a police officer candidate for medical reasons and his admission that he stole town property, smoked marijuana, abused sick days, failed to report income to the IRS and was even unable to provide a valid driver's license...The cop had deep connections to town government and the Miron administration. He's the son of former Deputy Police Chief Joseph LoSchiavo and former town human resources employee Linda LoSchiavo.

As the state Appellate Court deliberated the town's appeal, New Haven police last summer charged LoSchiavo with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct for a late-night incident outside a bar in the city.

When announcing the town's intent to appeal the Supreme Court decision, Harkins said, "Now that there is a record of his dishonesty, his ability to serve in law enforcement has been compromised."

Right now it's not known is LoSchiavo will appeal this week's decision to the state Supreme Court.