Warrant: Norwalk officers were drinking and driving
NORWALK — Two Norwalk officers were drinking and driving in their police cruisers in the hours before they were found in a hotel room together when they were supposed to be out on patrol, according to warrants for their arrest.
Officers Michael DiMeglio and Sara Laudano were arrested on Tuesday and charged with second-degree larceny and second-degree reckless endangerment in relation to the October incident. Laudano faces an additional charge of risk of injury to a minor.
Their arrest warrants detail a period of 12 hours between Oct. 9-10 during which DiMeglio and Laudano are accused of drinking in their police cruisers and not responding to service calls before ultimately being caught in a hotel room when they were supposed to be on duty. Laudano is additionally accused of driving with a baby and a civilian in the cruiser after consuming alcohol, and using a THC vape pen.
The timeline constructed in the warrants begins at 1:48 p.m. on Oct. 9, nearly two hours before DiMeglio and Laudano were scheduled to begin their 12-hour, overnight work shifts.
Laudano’s friend, Jennifer Cruver, told police she met Laudano, DiMeglio and their baby for lunch at Donovan’s in South Norwalk around 2 p.m. on Oct. 9.
The warrant states that, during lunch, surveillance footage captured Laudano having two beers and a shot, while DiMeglio had a beer and a shot as well.
After lunch, the warrant states, the three reconvened in the side parking lot at the Norwalk Police Department, where they continued to drink despite Laudano and DiMeglio having started their work shifts moments earlier.
Cruver told investigators that she, Laudano, DiMeglio and the baby sat in the trunk of a police cruiser outside the department, as DiMeglio drank a beer from a coffee cup and Laudano continued to drink from a can. Cruver also told police that, during this time, she and Laudano both took a “hit” from a THC vape pen that she had in her possession.
According to the warrant, Laudano received her first service call of the evening around the time the group finished their drinks. Before responding to the call — a panic alarm in West Norwalk — Laudano stopped at a liquor store to buy more beer then dropped her baby and Cruver off at Sedona Taphouse, where the two met Laudano’s wife for dinner.
At 5:39 p.m., DiMeglio responded to his first call, an alarm at a Columbine Lane house. According to the warrant, DiMeglio met another officer at the scene and both worked to clear the home. During the ensuing search, DiMeglio is caught on his bodycam clearing the home with an unholstered firearm, the report states.
“The building search of the residence by Officer Dimeglio with an unholstered firearm would not be uncommon when searching a residence with a potential intruder inside, however, the search was conducted after Officer Dimeglio had finished consuming alcoholic beverages both while on duty in the side parking lot of headquarters and earlier at Donvan’s restaurant ...,” the warrant said.
Around the same time, the warrant states, Laudano is pinpointed as driving to the rear parking lot of High Road School, where it remained stationary from 6:34 to 10:26 p.m.
Around 8 p.m., Cruver — having finished dinner with Laudano’s wife — allegedly met Laudano and DiMeglio in the school parking lot, where the three continued to drink for at least two hours. The warrant states investigators later found broken and discarded beer bottles at the school, which were later tied to the two officers by DNA tests.
Laudano then received a service call on Orlando Road for a noise complaint. The warrant states Laudano cleared the call at 9:20 p.m., telling dispatchers that the suspects were gone by the time she had gotten there. However, GPS data showed Laudano’s cruiser never left the school parking lot, and the complainant later said he was never contacted by a patrol officer, according to the report.
Between 8 p.m. and 11:03 p.m., DiMeglio is dispatched to three separate calls. While DiMeglio self-reported that he had responded to these calls, the warrant states the follow-ups with complainants revealed that none of them ever had “personal contact with a responding officer.”
Unlike Laudano’s cruiser, DiMeglio’s car did not have GPS monitoring, so investigators could not pinpoint his location during the calls. However, Cruver told police that DiMeglio only left the school parking lot once, at 8:47 p.m., to grab food, according to the warrant.
Laudano and DiMeglio later checked into the Even Hotel at 11:11 p.m., where a police supervisor discovered them about an hour later after Laudano failed to answer radio dispatches and calls on her cellphone. Police said Laudano and DiMeglio “were not in a condition to respond to calls for service” when their supervisor found them. The two were later relieved of duty and placed on administrative leave.
This isn’t the first time DiMeglio was missing when he was supposed to be on duty, the warrant said.
Months earlier, on April 14, DiMeglio had been dispatched to reports of a suspicious person in South Norwalk, but police said he never showed up. Officers later found DiMeglio sleeping in his Norwalk home, which was “not in his assigned patrol area,” the warrant said.
The warrant did not say whether DiMeglio was written up or disciplined for the incident. Attorney Jessica Kordas, who represents DiMeglio, declined to comment Wednesday afternoon.
Laudano could not be reached for comment.
Following the arrest of the two officers, Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik said Tuesday he was “appalled” by their behavior.