Hawaiian vacation gets new Stamford cop a larceny charge

Former Stamford police Officer Donald Chen has been charged with first-degree larceny and defrauding a public community. He allegedly went on a Hawaiian vacation with his girlfriend, while being paid by the Police Department, when he was supposed to be on duty with the U.S. Army Reserves. less Former Stamford police Officer Donald Chen has been charged with first-degree larceny and defrauding a public community. He allegedly went on a Hawaiian vacation with his girlfriend, while being paid by the ... more Photo: Stamford Police Department / Contributed Photo: Stamford Police Department / Contributed Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Hawaiian vacation gets new Stamford cop a larceny charge 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

STAMFORD — Perhaps he was on the beach, enjoying the sunset, or peering down the lip of a volcano.

Where he definitely wasn’t, city police say, was on duty.

Donald Chen, a Stamford Police Department rookie, had requested two weeks off from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15 to report for training with his U.S. Army Reserves unit. The department, supportive of its members who also serve in the military, allows officers to go on deployments for up to 30 days with pay.

So Chen left.

But eight days into his military leave, the Army called Stamford inquiring after his whereabouts - it couldn’t contact Chen and requested help finding him. Then the official missing person investigation began.

Chen ultimately contacted investigators assigned to the case, first by email then by phone, saying he was in Taiwan with his father, who’d had a heart attack and was undergoing surgery, Lt. Sean Cooney, commander of the police department’s Internal Affairs Division, said in a press release.

Investigators circled back to Chen’s family in Queens and learned from Chen’s mother that his father was alive, well and working in New York City, Cooney said.

Confronted with that and other information at odds with his Taiwan story, Chen admitted the truth - he was on vacation in Hawaii with his girlfriend.

Now no longer a city cop - he resigned Dec. 14 before he could get fired - Chen has been charged with felony larceny and defrauding a public community for vacationing on full pay instead of showing up for his Army Reserves training.

“I’m extremely disappointed with what happened,” police Chief Jon Fontneau said Tuesday. “What we found to be was a case of fraud committed not only to the city of Stamford and its taxpayers but the U.S. Government.”

Had Chen not resigned, “He would have been fired,” Fontneau said.

Fontneau said Chen, a former U.S. Army member who joined Stamford police in April 2014, will not receive a pension or any kind of pay out from the department. He said the department will ask prosecutors for restitution of the more than $2,000 Chen was being paid by the city for his military service.

Chen’s attorney, John Gulash, declined comment on the case. But he said Chen, who has served in the Army Reserves for eight years, spending one-year hitches in Iraq and Afghanistan, “has the support of a great group of friends and his family at this time.”

“Losing an officer under these circumstances is unfortunate for everyone,” said Sean Boeger, president of the Stamford Police Association. “I recognize Chief Fontneau’s responsibility to maintain good order and discipline throughout the department and respect his stance on moving swiftly to resolve sensitive matters like this one.”

“I have faith that Don will be afforded due process, as is the right of everyone,” he said. “If any wrongdoing is ultimately substantiated, as police officers, we cannot be tolerant of such actions as a matter of maintaining the public trust.”

Chen turned himself over to police Tuesday after a warrant had been issued for his arrest. He was released without bond and scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Jan. 11 at state Superior Court.

Fontneau said the matter was still under investigation, as police are now trying to determine whether other deployments Chen went on were also ruses for more time off with pay. It could not immediately be determined Tuesday what action the Reserves may have taken.

“Hopefully it did not happen prior to now,” Fontneau said. “He had been deployed earlier in the year on several occasions, over some weekends, and we are trying to confirm whether he was in fact serving during those times.”

jnickerson@scni.com