New Canaan cop pleads not guilty to possessing explosives in home

BRIDGEPORT — A New Canaan police officer, accused of killing dogs at his Naugatuck training facility, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to possessing a large amount of explosives at his Stratford home.

David Rivera, who was suspended from the police department following his arrest, pleaded not guilty to illegal possession of explosives, illegal storage of explosives, illegal possession of an assault rifle, illegal storage of a firearm and three counts of improper transfer of a firearm before Superior Court Judge Kevin Russo.

Rivera asked for a jury trial.

The judge continued the case to July 6.

Rivera and his lawyer, Susan Hankins, declined comment as they left state Superior Court in Bridgeport.

Rivera, who was the New Canaan Police Department’s K-9 officer, owned Black Rock Canines of Naugatuck which trained dogs for law enforcement agencies.

He and his general manager, Daniel Luna, were recently charged with more than a dozen counts of animal cruelty for allegedly fatally shooting more than a dozen adult dogs and puppies that they deemed untrainable at the facility.

That case is being prosecuted in Waterbury Superior Court.

In the case here, Rivera is accused of illegally storing a large amount of explosives in the garage of his house on Larchmont Circle in Stratford.

Last month, the arrest warrant affidavit states two employees of the dog training company complained to state police about their concerns of a large amount of explosive material, including TNT, that Rivera was storing at both the training center and a factory building in Naugatuck.

The affidavit states that the employees were concerned that Rivera did not have a license to have the explosives and that the explosives were being kept in unsafe containers. The witnesses told police Rivera claimed he was using the explosives to train dogs in detecting them.

The witnesses told police that after they confronted Rivera about the explosives Rivera moved them to his home in Stratford, the affidavit states.

Stratford police, members of the state police bomb squad and agents of the FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms served a search warrant on Rivera’s home in Stratford.

In the garage they found numerous items they determined to be high explosives, plus other items they considered to be low explosives, the affidavit states.

The affidavit continues that some of the explosives had begun to degrade and crystallize, indicating they were extremely unstable.

“All the explosive material that was found in the garage was found to be unlocked and accessible to anyone who was in the garage,” the affidavit states.

The affidavit states that when police searched the basement of the home they found three weapons, including an AR-15 assault weapon in an unlocked wooden box. The affidavit states that Rivera did not have the proper paperwork to obtain the guns.