October 31, 2006
POLICE CHIEF DEFENDS PROBE OF DROWNING
By Marissa Yaremich - Register Staff
WEST HAVEN - Police are doing everything in their power to determine what caused a local mother to drown underneath a Morgan Lane railroad trestle during a summer storm, including attempts to re-create the fatal water levels during Saturday’s downpour, said Police Chief Ronald M. Quagliani.
Though rarely one to publicly discuss the facets of an ongoing police investigation, the chief felt compelled Monday to hammer home the message in the wake of recent criticism made by the family’s legal team that the department impeded the firm’s investigation Friday.
"The Police Department’s purpose is, as with any investigation, to find out exactly what happened that evening. We take this very seriously and will continue to investigate to find the answers. The family deserves it, the public deserves it and I demand it. I hope this attorney has that same goal in mind," Quagliani said.
In addition to other legwork research, he said the department took advantage of Saturday’s rainy weather to try to reconstruct the accident scene that led to the Aug. 29 death of resident Gladys E. Padula.
Padula was driving northbound on Morgan Lane to her night-shift job Aug. 27 when a torrential downpour caused about 6 to 8 feet of water to accumulate beneath the overpass and flood her van.
Emergency crews were forced to dive into the water to rescue, and later resuscitate her, before rushing her to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where she died Aug. 29.
This weekend’s attempt to re-create the water accumulation was unsuccessful, even though police investigators plugged the area storm drains and had fire officials pump water from a nearby hydrant "for hours" as heavy rain and wind complicated the endeavor, the chief said.
"The bridge filled to just under four feet and would not fill anymore. Once the storm drains were cleared, the bridge drained in under 15 minutes," Quagliani said.
"That tragic event was clearly an anomaly, but we are continuing our investigation to determine exactly what happened," he added.
The family’s primary law firm, Stratton Faxon Law Firm of New Haven, alleged that police denied a firm-backed investigator photographic access to the public road and then threatened to arrest him on Friday as police prepared the site for Saturday’s reconstruction.
Quagliani called the accusations false.
"I take offense to the comments. We need to all work together," he said.
Attorney Joel Faxon on Monday continued to criticize the way police acted Friday.
"It’s an absolute lie," Faxon said of the chief’s denial, adding that no one is questioning the merits and passion going into the investigation — just the police action Friday.
The Padula investigator wasn’t in harm’s way or creating a public safety hazard by taking photographs, Faxon claimed.
Nor will it stop the firm from sending other investigators out to the site in the future to round out their investigation to determine if the family will proceed with its intentions to sue the city, he said.
In the meantime, Faxon said the firm has submitted a request to police for all the paperwork regarding Friday’s actions.
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