Larceny charges dismissed against Mayor Rossi’s son

BRIDGEPORT — Larceny charges pending against the son of West Haven’s mayor were dismissed Thursday after he successfully completed a pretrial probation program.

Superior Court Judge Alex Hernandez dismissed the charges of two counts of first-degree larceny and one count of criminal impersonation pending against Stephen Rossi during a brief hearing.

Rossi, the son of Mayor Nancy Rossi, had been accused of embezzling more than $80,000 from restaurants in Trumbull and Stratford where he had worked.

Neither Rossi nor his lawyer were in court Thursday. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney David Applegate told the judge that he had spoken to the restaurant owners and Rossi had completed the two conditions of his probation, that he make full restitution and give them a letter of apology.

“I have gotten no indications they have any further issues with him,” Applegate said.

In November 2019, Rossi, 35, was granted accelerated rehabilitation on the charges.

Under accelerated rehabilitation, a pretrial program for nonviolent offenders, Rossi did not plead guilty to the charges but was placed on two years of probation.

Rossi had been manager of the Sitting Duck restaurants in Trumbull and Stratford.

Police said they received a complaint from William da Silva, co-owner of the two restaurants, accusing Rossi of embezzling from the restaurants.

An audit determined that between Nov. 1, 2015, and April 21, 2018, an employee identified as Rossi had taken cash from sales at the Trumbull restaurant and had inflated inventory at the restaurants, pocketing the difference, police said. They said the loss totaled $80,511.56.

Police said they reviewed the video surveillance footage from inside the Trumbull restaurant which they said showed Rossi counting cash in the office of the restaurant and putting some in his pocket.

Detectives later recorded a conversation between Rossi and da Silva in which police said da Silva accused Rossi of stealing money.

“How do we fix this without it blowing up completely?” police said Rossi asked da Silva, volunteering to repay the money in payments.

Police said a later audit of the Stratford restaurant determined that Rossi had used the restaurant’s computer system to steal $21,236 by voiding cash sales and pocketing the money.