Judge affirms that former Danbury Police officer must be rehired

Daniel Sellner Daniel Sellner Photo: Contributed Photo Photo: Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Judge affirms that former Danbury Police officer must be rehired 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

DANBURY — A Danbury Superior Court judge has upheld a state panel’s order that Danbury Police reinstate former Officer Daniel Sellner.

Judge Edward Krumeich ruled that the state’s arbitration board was correct when it ruled this summer that Sellner should not have been fired almost four years ago after city officials accused him of using excessive force during an arrest.

That August 2014 incident came on the same day Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., launching a wave of police protests nationwide.

Police union leaders had argued that Sellner’s firing was not justified and that the department’s code of conduct required a 30-day suspension instead. City leaders have argued Sellner has a history of inappropriate behavior and a disciplinary record.

Krumeich disagreed with nearly all of the city’s argument, according to his 11-page order.

It was “a quick and stinging rebuke of a ridiculous argument on appeal,” said attorney Norm Pattis, who is representing Sellner.

Mayor Mark Boughton, who was among the officials who reviewed the case at a mayoral hearing, suggested city legal counsel are considering appealing the case again.

“I believe we have an option of appealing again and the legal staff is reviewing our options,” Boughton said. “Obviously, it’s frustrating for us in terms of being able to hold people accountable for their actions, but certainly we respect the ruling of the arbitration panel and the court.”

Pattis blasted Boughton for the city’s attempts to overturn Sellner’s reinstatement.

“All Mayor Boughton can accomplish by dragging this out is is a larger paycheck for Mr. Sellner in the end,” he said. “The mayor needs to take account of his responsibility to the taxpayers of Danbury, stop wasting money and return Mr. Sellner to service.

“If we have to drag the mayor into court by the nape of the neck to get him to obey the court, we will,” he continued. “His decisions with respect to police officers are insulting to the department.”

Sellner, who spent nearly 20 years on the force, has a long history of complaints and disciplinary issues.

Boughton fired Sellner in January 2015 after an internal investigation into the arrest in which Sellner took down a man while he was in handcuffs, sending the man to the emergency room. The city settled a case brought by the injured man for an undisclosed, but “five-figure” payment later that year.

But Sellner also has been accused of roughing up a young man in a cell more than 10 years ago and for threatening a driver at a gas station in 2012. He was suspended without pay for a week in 2013 for making a lewd comment to an elementary school teacher and he was retrained after misusing a Taser on a motorist.

The state arbitration panel ordered Sellner reinstated in June, mirroring a similar ruling from a judge just two months earlier who found the city should have issued a suspension instead of firing Officer Chris Belair for berating a motorist.

Belair has since been reinstated and is now at the state police academy to regain his certifications, which lapsed during the time he was removed from the department, Boughton said.

Sellner has not been reinstated during the city’s appeal, but he will also have to return to the academy for certifications should this month’s ruling stand.

Should the city delay the resintatement outside of an appeal, Pattis warned he would file a grievance with the state panel on Sellner’s behalf.

“Ultimately, in the end, we may consider contempt filings agianst the mayor as well,” Pattis said. “He can only ignore the law for so long before it bites back.”

zach.murdock@hearstmediact.com