The family of a deceased Hopewell Junction man has indicated it intends to sue after a police officer took part of the man's skull from the scene of an automobile accident and bragged he would use it as an ashtray.
Officer Liam Callahan, a nine-year veteran of the city police department in Norwalk, Conn., took the skull fragment after 62-year-old Alfred Caviola of Hopewell Junction died in a May 29 crash in Norwalk.
Callahan found the skull fragment in the street after the medical examiner had left the accident scene. He was fired from his job Friday, Norwalk police Chief Harry Rilling said.
"I felt that under the circumstances and with the evidence placed before me, the decision was fair and appropriate," Rilling said.
Caviola was driving a sports utility vehicle and lost control, police said. He suffered severe head injuries and was declared dead at the scene.
"This," Rilling said, "was a very horrific accident scene. ... The vehicle had flipped over once or perhaps more than once, and it seems that it was moving at a high rate of speed."
Reached by phone Monday evening, Jennifer Caviola, wife of Alfred Caviola's son Mark, said the family had no comment. Last month, a lawyer representing the family served notice the family intended to sue, listing Callahan, the police department and other city agencies.
Detective Mark Lepore, president of Norwalk's police union, said Callahan had "admitted making inappropriate comments," but the union doesn't believe Callahan intended them to be serious.
The comment about using the skull fragment as an ashtray, Lepore said, was an example of "gallows humor."
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AI
Officer Liam Callahan, a nine-year veteran of the city police department in Norwalk, Conn., took the skull fragment after 62-year-old Alfred Caviola of Hopewell Junction died in a May 29 crash in Norwalk.
Callahan found the skull fragment in the street after the medical examiner had left the accident scene. He was fired from his job Friday, Norwalk police Chief Harry Rilling said.
"I felt that under the circumstances and with the evidence placed before me, the decision was fair and appropriate," Rilling said.
Caviola was driving a sports utility vehicle and lost control, police said. He suffered severe head injuries and was declared dead at the scene.
"This," Rilling said, "was a very horrific accident scene. ... The vehicle had flipped over once or perhaps more than once, and it seems that it was moving at a high rate of speed."
Reached by phone Monday evening, Jennifer Caviola, wife of Alfred Caviola's son Mark, said the family had no comment. Last month, a lawyer representing the family served notice the family intended to sue, listing Callahan, the police department and other city agencies.
Detective Mark Lepore, president of Norwalk's police union, said Callahan had "admitted making inappropriate comments," but the union doesn't believe Callahan intended them to be serious.
The comment about using the skull fragment as an ashtray, Lepore said, was an example of "gallows humor."
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AI
