Sixty-eight-year-old Metro North employee Myron Johnson died a very sad death when he passed away alone in his Bridgeport apartment on Christmas Day of 2007. Johnson's body sat in the morgue for eight months as no one claimed it. Finally, Brenda Ortiz, director of Bridgeport's Community Funeral Chapels stepped up and gave Johnson the most lavish burial possible, with a state-of-the-art stainless steel casket and vault to place beneath a granite headstone in Park Cemetery. (Still, no one came to the funeral.) Ortiz claims she was making up for Johnson's sad fate, but her motives were called into question when she submitted an itemized bill to a probate court, seeking $64,000 from Johnson's $141,000 estate. (Ortiz knew he had money; Johnson had $795 in cash on him when she picked up the body.) The judge only gave her the usual $1,800 for claiming an unclaimed body, but the Connecticut Post reports Ortiz is now trying again with a bill for $34,000.
Last September, John Scalesse died when his motorcycle collided with a construction vehicle in Fairfield. Scalesse's family say they never received $3,000 in cash and a gold chain that were in his possession at the time. A state police internal investigation apparently concluded that trooper Aaron Huntsman, who responded to the scene, stole the items from Scalesse, literally as the man lay dying. Huntsman was arrested on a host of charges and placed on paid leave, reports the Connecticut Post. (The incident could cause him to be fired and also lose his pension.)
Darien and New Canaan high schools share an intense football rivalry, one that leads to occasional displays of dickery before the two face off in the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl. In 2010, Darien players spray-painted a "D" on the entrance of New Canaan High School before the game. This year's match seemed to go off without incident until New Canaan players returned to the visiting team locker room at Darien High School and found that someone had urinated on their equipment, reports the New Canaan Advertiser.
We're not sure why Lonna Leak was arrested in the course of a noise complaint, but after she was, she allegedly caused $5,000 worth of damage to Hamden police headquarters. After spending the ride kicking the interior cage of a cruiser, Leak, 37, was placed in a holding cell at the station where she bit the padded walls and triggered the sprinkler system, police told WTNH. The appropriately named Leak also allegedly urinated on the floor. In the booking area, she reportedly damaged an electronic control panel by biting off the rubber buttons.
Bad Teacher: The Branford Board of Education unanimously voted to fire high school social studies teacher Carolyn Lippolis for a "series of misjudgments," including showing students the R-rated comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin, nicknaming a pupil "liar," bringing her small children to class when she couldn't arrange childcare and at one point brandishing a knife in her classroom, administrators told the New Haven Register.
Fairfield University freshman and alleged pot dealer James Torpey promoted his illicit enterprise using custom-made business cards, police told the Connecticut Post. After one of the cards, which read "Bean Marijuana, Inc." and included Torpey's cell phone number, made its way to a school security staffer, an informant was employed to make a few buys, leading to the 18-year-old's arrest.
Erik Martin of Southbury probably had little choice but to confess to burglarizing his neighbor's house. When police arrived, items from the other home were allegedly strewn across Martin's front lawn, reports the Southbury Patch website.
Upset that she didn't pick up beer, 26-year-old Kevin Hadden (who was already reportedly intoxicated) pushed his mother to the ground and dragged her by the leg in their Norwalk apartment, police told The Hour.
Have you found Jesus? If so, please call the Torrington police. They have been searching for the Lord since he was stolen from a town nativity scene. The King of Kings is about 18 inches long and ceramic, reports the Hartford Courant.
