March 2025 – Page 7 – DoingItLocal

Bridgeport Police Union Moves Forward with No Confidence Vote in Chief Roderick Porter

Bridgeport, CT – The Bridgeport Police Union has taken a decisive step toward a vote of no confidence in Police Chief Roderick Porter, citing a department in crisis under his leadership. According to Union President Michael Salemme III, the union’s executive board voted 51-5 to bring the issue to its full membership.

“The membership has nothing to lose—Chief Porter already destroyed the department and now has to have two assistant chiefs try to restore the damage he did,” said Salemme. “The citizens only see an hour on social media, once a week, through ‘Porter’s Corner,’ which is masking the toxic work environment.”

Salemme has previously accused Porter of fostering a culture of retaliation, mismanaging promotions, and creating policies that have led to increased officer fatigue and sick leave. He also claims that under Porter’s leadership, taxpayer dollars have been wasted on unnecessary grievances, outsourced investigations, and lawsuits.

In response to past criticism, Chief Porter has dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and an attempt to misinform the public. Despite his claims, union leadership maintains that morale is at an all-time low and that officers are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation.

The upcoming full union vote will determine the formal stance of the department’s officers on Chief Porter’s leadership.

Today’s Car Fire

Today’s Vehicle Fire is in the parking garage of Bridgeport Hospital in Bridgeport. Firefighters arrived on scene and found and put out the car fire. There is no additional information at this time.

Another Garage Fire

Report of another garage fire. This one’s at Margaret Circle in Stratford. Firefighters arrived on scene to find a fire in the corner of the garage that was quickly put out.

Today’s Car Fire

Today’s car fire is on I-95 on the off ramp of Exit 36 Northbound. Firefighters are currently on their way.

Convicted Felon Arrested After Shots Fired in Ansonia

On March 7, 2025 at about 10:30 P.M., the Ansonia Police Department received multiple calls reporting shots fired from in or around 84 Franklin Street. A witness reported seeing a gun pointed out a window at the location and fired towards the rear of the house into the woods. Officers made contact with the owner/resident, another occupant of the home and shell casings were located outside the home. A search warrant was obtained for the home and located during the search were two handguns, a shotgun, three BB guns, and ammunition for the handguns and shotgun.

Ryan Ortiz, age 39, the owner of the home is a convicted felon for Illegal Sale of Firearm in New York. He was arrested for five counts Criminal Possession of Firearms and Ammunition and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Pistol, held on a $250,000.00 bond to be arraigned in Derby Superior Court March 10, 2025

The investigation is ongoing to determine who fired the gun and additional charges are anticipated.

All arrestees are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Shots Fired-Then Pursuit

Bridgeport Police were called for a report of shots fired at Greene Homes. Police pursued the suspects in a black Nissan up Route 8, but broke off the pursuit at exit 11 according to unconfirmed state police radio reports. No reports of anyone or anything being hit.

2025-03-10@9:00PMish–#Bridgeport CT

Bridgeport News: Porch Fire

Bridgeport firefighters were called to a porch fire on Marion Street where they discovered a fire on the back deck. They quickly extinguished the fire with no extension to the home.

Brush Fire

Bridgeport Firefighters were called to a brush fire on Exeter Street near Chopsey Hill Road. Finding the fire close to a house they quickly called in additional resources as well as mutual aid from surrounding towns. Within forty-five minutes the bulk of the fire was knocked down and firefighters continued chasing the many hotspots. There were no reported injuries.

2025-03-10@3:00pm–#Bridgeport CT– Brush Fire

Worker Injured in Industrial Accident at Lecoq Cuisine

At around 4:00 a.m. on Sunday, the Bridgeport Fire Department responded to Lecoq Cuisine at 35 Union Avenue for an industrial accident. An employee’s hand had become trapped between two rollers inside a machine. Rescue 5 successfully freed the worker after the company’s maintenance team de-energized the machine before firefighters arrived. The employee was transported to Bridgeport Hospital, and OSHA has been notified of the incident.

ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG ISSUES TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF INCREASED PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL STREET TAKEOVERS AND RECKLESS DRIVING

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong issued testimony today in support of S.B. 1284, An Act Concerning the Illegal Use of Certain Vehicles and Street Takeovers, which would enable municipalities to seize certain motor vehicles and increase penalties for those engaged in illegal street takeovers. Attorney General Tong has previously called for increased penalties for reckless driving, including temporary forfeiture of vehicles.

“There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t see someone driving recklessly on our roads and highways on my commute up to Hartford. From excessive speeding and reckless lane changes to distracted and intoxicated driving, this brazen lawlessness puts all of us at risk and cannot be tolerated,” Attorney General Tong states in his testimony.

Full testimony copied below.

Testimony in Support of

S.B. No. 1284, An Act Concerning The Illegal Use Of Certain Vehicles And Street Takeovers

Judiciary Committee

Friday, March 7th, 2025

Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony in support of S.B. No. 1284 which aims to improve the safety of our roads and hold accountable those who endanger our lives through their reckless and lawless misbehavior.

There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t see someone driving recklessly on our roads and highways on my commute up to Hartford. From excessive speeding and reckless lane changes to distracted and intoxicated driving, this brazen lawlessness puts all of us at risk and cannot be tolerated. Street takeovers are the extreme celebration of this dangerous driving culture, where large groups of individuals flood entire roads with reckless speeding and weaving. This is not merely a disruption—this puts every other road user at risk, from drivers to pedestrians and cyclists and nearby neighbors.

We must do more to protect the safety of our roads, and I believe this bill is a step in the right direction. By enabling municipalities to instate ordinances related to street takeovers and give them the tools to seize, sell, or destroy certain types of motor vehicles and institute fines will increase accountability for those actively engaging in this type of behavior. I would urge the Committee to go a step further and subject extreme reckless drivers—those who exceed one-hundred miles per hour—to the temporary forfeiture of their vehicles.

For the reasons above, the Office of the Attorney General recommends that the Committee favorably report S.B. No. 1284.