Fire officials: Call about propane preceded arrest of prosecutor
FAIRFIELD — A state prosecutor was illegally using a 20pound propane tank to run a gas heater inside her home minutes before she was issued a summons for interfering with police, according to fire officials.
But firefighters don’t know why Justina Moore, a 42yearold assistant state’s attorney in Bridgeport, was issued the summons soon after they left her Fairfield home on Dec. 9, and police have not yet released details of the arrest.
Fairfield police Capt. Robert Kalamaras, who had been “referring all inquiries into this case to the prosecutor’s office,” said Thursday he would release the incident report after it is reviewed and approved by the town’s risk management department.
Kalamaras expected to release the report Friday morning in response to a Hearst Connecticut Media Freedom of Information Act request submitted this week seeking the report as well as dash and body camera recordings of the arrest.
New Haven State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin said Thursday the report should be available at the police department and he has not
requested that any information in the case be withheld.
Moore is on limited duty in her role as a prosecutor and is expected to appear Friday in state Superior Court in New Haven for her arraignment.
Firefighters and police were called to Moore’s home around 6:50 p.m. on Dec. 9 to investigate a report she was illegally heating her home with a propane gas tank commonly used for outdoor grills, according to Assistant Fire Chief George Gomola.
Firefighters arrived first and found she was using a propane tank to run a gas heater in the home, which could have generated a harmful amount of carbon monoxide, Gomola said.
“It could be very dangerous,” said Gomola, who pointed out it’s also illegal.
Moore told firefighters she has an old furnace and was using the gas heater to help warm her home, Gomola said.
Firefighters disconnected the propane tank and took it outside after explaining it could emit carbon monoxide and shouldn’t be used in a contained space, such as a home, Gomola said. Firefighters checked for carbon monoxide on the first floor of the home, but found none, he said.
They also offered to check the furnace and the second floor but Moore declined, Gomola said. Fairfield police officers arrived as firefighters were leaving at 7:12 p.m., he said.
Fire officials do not know why police issued Moore a summons about 35 minutes later.
The summons was transferred from the Judicial District of Fairfield, where Moore works, to the geographical court in New Haven, according to John Smriga, state’s attorney for the Judicial District of Fairfield.
Moore, a former Norwalk assistant state’s attorney who has worked for the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice since 2008, was placed on administrative leave for one week in the wake of the arrest, according to Smriga, who is her superior.
Since returning from leave, Moore has been on limited duty and is not overseeing cases in the courtroom, Smriga said. She will “remain on limited duty” while the case is pending and his office will conduct an internal investigation into the allegations, Smriga said. He declined to discuss details of the case.
Interfering with an officer is a class A misdemeanor in Connecticut. If convicted, a person faces up to one year in prison, a $2,000 fine and probation.
Eugene Riccio, an attorney representing Moore, declined to comment about the case.