It’s not hard to figure out the priorities of some cops during a storm. They’re more worried about their paychecks than police work. This is a total abuse of power.
While city was struggling to recover from a devastating storm, police said the mayor’s son, Peter Finch, grabbed a fallen street sign, tucked it under his arm and walked with it into a local bar.
“It’s just unbelievable,” said Police Lt. Thomas Lula, head of the Police Department’s Strategic Enforcement Unit. “Everyone’s out clearing trees, cleaning up and he stops to get a souvenir.”
Finch, 28, of West Parkway, was charged with sixth-degree larceny. He was released on a promise to appear in court.
He couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
According to Lula, at about 6 p.m., a half hour after Mayor Bill Finch’s city-wide curfew went into effect, Peter Finch took the “Broad Street” sign from a fallen pole at the corner of Cesar Batalla Way and Broad Street, tucked it under his arm and walked with it to Murphy’s Law on Fairfield Avenue.
“Officers saw him walking with the sign and then go into the bar,” Lula said. He continued that officers Frank Cuccaro and Frank Delbouno went into the bar and issued Finch the summons.
“He claimed he was going to turn it in to his father,” Lula said. “But he walked past a half dozen public works trucks that he could have turned it in to on his way to the bar.”
Really? Did Lula offer full disclosure to the Connecticut Post? That Frank Cuccaro who pinched the mayor’s son is the former head of the city police union the mayor seeks concessions to close a budget gap? Is it unbelievable to Lula that someone would pick up a street sign from the ground that was blown away by tornado-like winds? Is it unbelievable that cops have nothing better to do? They’re now pinching people for picking up a felled street sign? Picking on the mayor’s family because they have a beef with the mayor?
How is it that police were able to see Pete Finch carrying the sign, but not the actual sign itself? What’s wrong with saying okay give us the sign? How do they know his intent? He had such intent to ‘steal’ the sign that he posed for a picture of himself holding the sign? So three police officers during a catastrophic storm, during this state of emergency, where folks are displaced, roofs disconnected from buildings, are investigating the mayor’s son for a sign that was on the ground? You want to argue Pete should have shown better judgment? Okay. What about the police showing better judgment? This has nothing to do with police work. (And I hope not one cop receives a layoff slip.) It has everything to do with abuse of power, and some cops’ beef with the mayor because he wants union concessions, and threatens layoffs.
I’m sure it’s not easy being the Mayor of Bridgeport with the reputation the previous ones had. I’m sure it’s not easy being a Bridgeport Policeman/woman with the reputation previous ones had. I’m really sure it’s not easy being the Mayors son…..So let’s take away the titles…a man walks into a bar with a street sign…any questions…..
I hate Finch,too,but what “good” did Ganim do for Bpt,exactly?Planted flowers? Yeah,by giving a “no bid ” contract to Fabrizi’s brother.He demolished all the houses in the east end for a STILL non existent Steel Point development.Meanwhile all the taxes from those homes and businesses he displaced are gone.Still Bpt is a ghost town.And the sad thing? Ganim didn’t need the money.His family is LOADED.This was all about ego and greed.So why do you folks love him????
BRING JOE BACK,YEAH HE HAD HIS HAND IN THE COOKIE JAR….however he did do alotta good for bpt,what has the grinch done that is positive?
What is some people’s love affair with Joe Ganim about? They all talk as if he was a great mayor.Well he WASN’T.Taxes were sky high,services low,and no jobs or development in Bpt.Partly due to shakedowns of developers.He took all kinds of freebies,and then had the arrogance to say he did nothing wrong.Even after being convicted and serving 6 yrs in jail he is unrepentant.And some idiots still worship this guy,and would vote for him again.I just don’t get it
Malloy’s son did not one but TWO felonies in a yr and got off with probation on both.It pays to have connections
What about Malloy. He does the same thing for his son too. I think the Bridgeport Police did the right thing. I am a taxpayer and I should not have to pay for the Mayor’s mistakes any more than I have too. Bring back Ganim.
Look at the bright side folks,the end is near and FINCH will be out of a job……we should take a poll BILLY BOY worst BPT mayor ever…….i sure believe so. LETS hear from the people……and you too LEN but we already know which way you lean….now dont we. oh an len not only do the cops not like DER FURHER FINCH nobody does except you and some other dillusional people around here……No wait Sal DiNardo loves bill too……..some people need to think about their souls a little more an money a little less,cause we all get judged in the end by the One true king…..someday soon
the kid had his picture taken with someone with the sign. doesn’t smell like theft
to me. maybe a little over excited after a once in 100 year tornado that hits downtown bridgeport. the storms quickness and destruction was bewildering. it is little petty by the police. 10 percent unemployment in the country.
every mayor, governor, business is having a tough time “balancing the budget.”
Well OTB, I don’t vote in Bridgeport, but if I could I don’t know how I’d vote. This is a problem for so many cops who don’t like Finch. They live out of town.
Lets make sure to Vote for ANYONE but Finch…..Hey Len your voting for Finch right?
World’s Longest book: “Slow-motion train wreck” by Dee Generate
World’s shortest book? “My Accomplishments As Mayor” by Bill Finch
I say give Chris a shot at city hall……he would be way better than Finch and Len you just sure as hell seem like your checked in at Camp Finch…..Just what are your feeling about Bill and some of his decisions as Mayor
I say give Caruso a shot,this time.The Republicans can’t get a viable candidate,and we need an outsider to do what needs to be done-that being cut out all the cronyism and corruption in City Hall.Caruso has no alliance (or indebtedness) to Testa and the “behind the scenes” puppeteers of the Democratic party.I’ve lived here all my life and it never has been this bad.The “party” has endorsed thieves,liars,drunks and coke sniffers.We deserve better.Caruso can’t be half as bad as his predecessors,and will be 100 % more honest.
OTB, when I criticize the mayor will you say I’m in the tank for Chris Caruso?
There’s a hole in downtown Bridgeport. The police are looking into it.
Besides, there’s nothing worthwhile stealing in downtown. Look at the empty stores.
You got that right brother,that is Just Wondering with comment #33…..It sure seems like LENNIE got his flag firmly planted over there at Camp Finch,so is this correct Len…..and so much for your neutrality!!!
Definitely fire her.Hire two firemen or cops for her salary.Let O.T.B. ( One Term Bill ) cut out all the “dead wood” from his staff -which IS his entire staff.For all their six figure salaries they’ve produced “zero,zip,zilch,nada”.The only new jobs in Bpt are the ones created by Finch for his pals
To #29 regarding the Mayor’s $82,000/year publicist. The Post gave good grades to the city for their response to the tornado EXCEPT communications which got a “D”. Isn’t that the publicist’s job to make sure that the media and citizens were well informed? With WICC out of commission, this was especially important. Well she didn’t do her job and should be fired. BTW, the cops were right.
Sonny boy Finch should stop embarassing his dad.Bill is QUITE CAPABLE of embarassing himself.He does it every time he speaks.
Just wondering, if the union, police department or anyone affiliated with the PD asks me for a link I’d be happy to oblige. I’ve been plenty critical of Finch on a number of subjects, and I’m sensitive to the union position. Unionized city employees have stepped up to help the city. Plenty of great cops in the PD. I take positions all the time with respect to issues, and readers are free to comment if they agree, disagree.
Just curious Lennie but if it was a kid from Marina Village, PT, Pembroke Ave. or Stratford Ave. and they picked up the sign and went into a bar with it, do you think they would have gotten arrested? I bet if you ask any people who live in those areas if they would have been arrested they would probably tell you they wouldn’t have gotten a summons but would have been booked.
For your information Cuccaro is not involved in negotiations with the City. Also I see on your website that you have a link to “live with Pete Finch”. Up to this point I found your blog interesting any fairly neutral but you showed your true colors.
Hey Lennie why does it seem that you are such a FAN of Bill Finch or his son……just what is your agenda,furthermore Johnny Fabs and Joe Ganim were much better mayors that Finch the Grinch!!
Yeah why is Fabrizi untouchable?
Glad to see all my fans in a happy harmonious mood. Truth, if you really represent the truth, Finch cannot lay off John Fabrizi, a Board of Education employee.
In Hope – if Finchy was truly concerned about our city he would lay off his $ 82,000 publicist,John Fabrizi,Andy Nunn,and the mayors whole network of do-nothing cronies BEFORE asking for concessions.He wants everyone to sacrifice except HIM AND HIS CRONIES.I’m still waiting on my $600 rebate from this liar.He will be gone next year,so Lennie stop sucking up to Finch,theres no FUTURE in it
I was there, I saw him pick up the sign, then asked him what he was going to do with it. A woman who was with him said they’d return it. We then picked up a trash can out of Main St. and put it back on the green. Who knows what they did after that (apparrently went to the bar), but I saw the same woman leaving the package store on the corner of Middle St. & John St. about 20 minutes later.
The Grander Issue
It seems on every blog, every editorial or letter to the editor we miss the overarching issue, the bigger more pertinent problem. And in turn, we continue to miss our opportunity to amend these problems.
We have union members of every dept upset with the city, angry parents and teachers upset with the BOE, average taxpayers angry with the tax-ers. Yet what is extremely frustrating is the complete misunderstanding of the entire situation. From a neutral point of view, there is no one in the city or the BOE that is out to get anyone; there are no bad guys who seek to deprive anyone of their inalienable rights. I have the utmost faith that these institutions exist to better our lives and people like Mayor Finch are trying their best to not let the burden fall on the struggling tax payer.
Our problems here in Bridgeport are nothing new and they are not specific to our town only. They are problems felt from Englewood to the Bronx, from Johannesburg to Calcutta; the disparity between the haves and the have-nots.
Why don’t we ask this: Why do cities struggle in America? Why does our middle class shrink and America’s working man pay the price?
Despite the mayor, the governor, the congressman, the president or the sheriff for that matter, the degradation of our once cherished American cities has continued for the last 50 years. Is it one mayor’s fault that our city is left with a tight budget? Is one person’s fault that tough decisions must be made, that layoffs must be executed?
The answer is no. The unfortunate circumstances in cities such as ours, is the result of many factors.
In a JFK-esque manner, why can’t we ask the broader questions? Why can’t we focus on how our hometown can be better? How can we reverse this trend?
Again it is unfortunate that people will be let go; yet is much more unfortunate that we continue to miss the broader picture. I only hope we can collect some consensus within our communities in my lifetime.
D Truth, thank you for bringing up the underlying argument of this whole mess…but sadly, your argument that “we ALL hate Bill because our taxes keep rising” is extremely weak. The reason police and other union members are upset with Finch, is because of concessions and layoffs. With a tight budget, you can either make layoffs, concessions or raise taxes.
You are claiming your taxes keep climbing due to the Mayor’s work; yet everyone else is complaining about the concessions. Which one is it? We should look into how a budget is balanced (*reference to Obama’s state of the Union retort to a Republican’s heckling about the federal budget) before we wreak havoc and hell and add insult to injury, before our emotions get the best of us and what results is conflict and personal infliction, such as was on display this past Thursday. If the mayor is making cutbacks in spending, he is avoiding raising taxes. The mayor, as it seems, is concerned with the average Bridgeport taxpayer.
Nobody likes cutbacks, especially when it hits home and it is unfortunate that poor cities like Bridgeport often see many cutbacks, layoffs and, at times, rises in taxes.
Lastly, every single comment on this blog is based off complete assumption. We read a story produced by the CTPost, which featured a quote from a member of the Bpt PD. None of us, if I’m not mistaken were at the scene of the “crime.” And if we were, why are we complaining about the Mayor’s son not picking up debris, when he in fact did and we did not, considering the sign was not in any of our hands.
What I see as merely an act of a citizen of Bridgeport picking up fallen debris, many opportunists and angry people are using this time to take their anger out.
The facts:
1) Pete Finch picked up a fallen sign.
2) Three police took approximately 45 minutes to issue his arrest
3) One block away, at the same exact time. The building holding the Metric Bar and Grill was collapsing and its residents were evacuating is disarray.
Does this have anything, anything at all to do with the UCONN incident? We all know the answer to that.
Lenny I appreciate this candidness
Lenny,
The mayor’s son was wrong and then his b.s excuse that he was going to bring the sign to his daddy the mayor come on. As Lt. Lula stated there were plenty of public works workers out there and he could have easily handed the sign over to one of them. Talk about abuse of power not on the part of the police officers but rather on the part of Peter Finch who figured that because he was the mayor’s son he could do what he wanted. Good for you Officers Cuccaro and Delbouno. Be safe out there guys.
@cc, I agree with you, whole heartedly. This kid could have been, should have been on the street as a representative of the Mayor of the city of Bridgeport, helping out wherever he could. He could have been, should have been, patting hands, helping to calm, entertaining frightened children, passing out water bottles or food, doing any of a myriad of small tasks, to help. Heaven forbid he should pick up some tree limbs to help out the street workers. Instead, he claims a street sign and takes it to a bar. Shame on him, and thumbs up to the cops who got pissed enough to slap his hand. Lest we forget…this “kid” is pushing thirty. No excuse for this selfish, childish behavior.
It’s amazing to me that the police would be focusing on someone picking up a street sign and bringing it into a bar in the midst of an emergency where the governor got called out of a meeting to come down to this city. Lenn called it right. This was personal. If it hadn’t been Bill Finch’s son, the police would not have have noticed.
Furthermore, we don’t know that he was actually stealing the sign. He walked into a bar with it and for all we know, he might have thrown the sign back on the street afterwards or even been planning to give it to his dad (unlikely as that seems). Stealing is wrong and shouldn’t go unpunished, but during an emergencies the police should have their priorities straight. Law and order first, vendettas second.
Maybe I’m naive but is there any evidence at all that when the officer who initiated the arrest saw an unidentified young man pick up a sign, that the officer knew it was Finch’s son?? It may have been a former union prez who saw that but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he knows offhand exactly who one of Finch’s sons is by a brief sighting. If it had been anyone other than a union guy, this would not be an angle to this story. Sounds more like wrong place wrong time for Off. Cuccaro.
Ah, such venom for Bill Finch from all the PD fans. More validation that this is about Finch and nothing other than Finch.
To hell with Finch and his son!!
BULLLLLLLLLLLLLLSHIT!..
He and Desiree Fontaine were working under cover together
They’ve been given a special assignment from John Quinnonez.
LMAO!!
I’m sure the cops enjoyed catching Finch’s son and busting him,given Bill’s threat of layoffs to police and firemen.But we ALL hate Bill because our taxes keep rising,yet Finch still is surrounded by his highly paid cronies who are IMMUNE from layoffs
Daddy will bail him out. Kid should grow up eventually.
In the middle of a devastating storm, instead of pitching in to help out – this kid (yes, not a man, a kid) takes a street sign and takes it into the bar? Finch needs to grow up and respect his city and community. The cops get the kudos here and you should be ashamed that you are even suggesting otherwise.
“pinched” what are you trying to be a goodfella?
I have to agree with the police! Yes, I am sure they did take some pleasure in arresting the mayor’s son, but……*drum roll please* Pete Finch was WRONG to STEAL city property! Not only that, to walk into a bar with it like “look what I got”…sounds like maybe Pete Finch has some entitlement issues? I am sorry, but I agree with the police!
Really Lenny? I think you’re letting your true colors shine bright on this one. The fact that officials are busy clearing streets and working hard is just the justification needed to bust this punk. I would have done the same thing, except instead of the summons I would have driven him to East Main Street and handed him a pair of gloves and some Hefty bags.
What a loser.
Just like in Stoors CT, dad to his rescue!
A crime is a crime regardless if you are the mayor’s son or not. Lenny you are wrong and the one who looks stupid for you heading of this post. Taxpayers do have to pay for such items, and at the time the city was on lock down, so why is the mayor’s son ignoring the state of emergency and walking around bragging about the sign in a bar? how about he put it in his car and returned it after the town was declared safe? and he was done drinking
It’s police work and should be commended not condoned by your remarks.
Oh give me a break, this is what BPD is focusing on a sign that was blown off from this massive storm, maybe its time for some BPD cut backs for those idiot cops that have nothing better to do.And stop hanging out at the dunkin doughnuts they are over budget as it is because you cops are eating to much, here’s a thought maybe more foot patrole that should put them in shape…. And you cops know who I am talking about…
Lenny you are wrong on this one, a theif is a theif!
The East side looks like a bomb went off. And you know what? None of the thugs out last night stole any street signs. You can ask any member of the Bloods, if they stand on a corner too long (loiter), will they be arrested. Answer, yes. A kid from the hood took a sign in front of the cops last night he would have gone to booking.
Oh, nice job to the Mayor’s son. He did steal City property in front of a cop. Good one.
wow, he is on facebook saying F— the police.. what an upstanding kid.. ya right
You have to be kidding me? Lennie, what is you lived on that street and saw this occur? How is this funny? The police were doing their jobs in a city that gets a bad rap for just about everything. Good for the 2 officers who have had enough of this type of behavior. And if you read the paper, Lt Lula is cleaning up Bridgeport in cracking down on drugs, prostitutes, gambling etc…These are the exact things that have made Bridgeport into an undesirable location for most. If that was my son regardless of whether I was mayor or not, he would have “Broad Street” indented in his backside.
this all too funny police arrest mayors son for a street sign, but its now 10 months since my wife got robbed of 75,000.00 in jewlery at lincoln blvd and police did nothing.
Give me a friggin brake…sure he was gonna give the sign to his father,the city of BPT is in a constant state of emergency with OTB thats One Term Bill….at the helm!!
Really? “Stealing a street sign…taxpayers have to pay to replace.” The sign was on the ground. If cops saw a kid from the East Side they’d have done nothing. They pinched the son of a mayor they can’t stand. And the guy who pinched Pete Finch was the former union chief.
Lennie,you are wrong on this one. Regardless of the beef cops are having with the Mayor, steeling a street sign is wrong. Taxpayers have to pay to replace the sign and the tab is not small every year. The Mayor’s son should know better. If they saw a kid from the East side or West End making off with a street sign he would get pinched too. It it just poor character in the middle of a disaster to walk off with the taxpayers property. The excuse he would turn it in to his father is just stupid. You are going to bother your father the Mayor in the middle of a disaster with a street sign–come on…did the cops get some enjoyment from the bust probably but Finch was wrong and he wouldn’t be in this mess if he didn’t do something stupid. I have to believe his father would even agree….
Kiss up Lennie; Kiss up! Election time is coming and you are looking for a paycheck.