Police: Highway Workers’ Alarm at Gunshots Led to Arrest of 2 Darien Police Officers

After Arrest of Two Darien Police Officers, Chief Says Alleged Conduct ‘Intolerable’

Police Contract Negotiated: 2% Raise for 1st Year, 2.5% for Next 3 Years

Meet Darien Police Department’s Latest Officer: Luis Moura

Obituary: James Winn, 73, Retired Darien Police Lieutenant

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | October 19, 2015

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | October 6, 2015

Government & Politics

By David Gurliacci | October 2, 2015

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | July 23, 2015

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | July 20, 2015

Martin and Ehret shooting arrest 10-6-15

The arrests of two Darien police officers resulted from a report of 11 gunshots heard after midnight by highway construction workers near the Exit 13, according to a state police arrest warrant application, now public, which provides many more details about the case than were initially released. The application was made public by clerks at state Superior Court in Stamford, where Darien police officers Daniel Ehret and James Martin face charges of reckless endangerment, breach of peace and unlawful discharge of firearms after an Aug. 1 incident on Wakeman Road. Officers Martin and Ehret spoke to a Darien police sergeant who arrived at the scene, but both officers declined to provide a statement to the state police detective who arrived later, according to the warrant. The detective and the police sergeant both reported smelling alcohol on Ehret and Martin.

The alleged firing of a gun outside a home on Aug. 1 by an off-duty Darien police officer, now arrested with another town police officer is “disturbing,” “profoundly dangerous and wholly irresponsible,” Darien Police Chief Duane Lovello said. Lovello gave that description in a statement early Tuesday evening in reaction to the arrest of the Darien police officers, James Martin and Daniel Ehret. Both officers were placed on administrative leave immediately after the incident, Lovello said. Here is Lovello’s statement, emailed at 8:07 p.m.:
During the early morning hours of Saturday, Aug.

The union representing 48 Darien police officers ratified a four-year contract with the town that increases wages 2 percent in the first year and 2.5 percent in the next three and eliminates unused sick time for new employees. All members of the bargaining unit will be moved into a high-deductible health insurance plan ($2,000 for the employee or $4,000 for the employee’s family of two people or more). The police union ratified the contract on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and the Board of Selectmen is scheduled to vote on it on Monday. The Representative Town Meeting’s approval will be needed before the contract goes into effect.

Darien Police Chief Duane Lovello swore in the department’s newest officer, Luis Moura, a three-year Bridgeport police veteran who will start work on Saturday. “This is always a happy event for us, when we welcome someone into our family,” Lovello said. Police Commission Chairman Paul Johnson said his board is “very very pleased to get another officer who’s been working with another department, who is fully trained and who can step into his job in Darien” without further training. The department also has one officer who just completed police academy training and has another candidate in the police academy. Moura will be on patrol with other officers for a while as he gets to know his way around town, Lovello said.

« August 2022 »

An announcement posted Monday, Feb. 20,

on the Darien Police Department Facebook page:

It is with sadness that the Department informs you of the passing of retired Darien Police Lieutenant James Winn. Jim passed away just before noon today at the Westchester County Medical Center in Valhalla, NY after a long period of medical struggles. He was 73 years old. Jim, or “Pat” to many of his friends, was born in Stamford on Oct. 24, 1941, a son of the late James O. Winn and Elizabeth Winn. A standout athlete, Jim received numerous awards throughout high school for achievements in baseball, football, track, and swimming. Jim was a member of the 1957 Stamford Police Babe Ruth team, a team that won the Connecticut State Championship, the New England States Championship, and the Regional Championship. The team then traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan where they lost the World Championship to Pensacola, Florida. As a member of this team, Jim pitched a no-hitter.