the Town of Greenwich by Frank Trotta

It’s okay for Congress to wait until the last minute to do its job — but it is not okay for the citizens. The Senate hasn’t passed a budget in 4 years, and Congress is waiting until the last minute to address the “fiscal cliff” issue, but what if you waited to the very last moment to do your tax planning? You’d be up the creek, thanks to that same procrastinating government.

First, the IRS announces on the Friday before the long Christmas weekend that they were going to take it upon themselves to stop issuing tax-id numbers at 3 p.m. on December 27. You can’t open a bank account without a tax id number. Indeed, it is nearly impossible to make a substantial gift without a tax id number — and a lot of residents of the Town of Greenwich wanted to do just that before the gift-tax reverted to its high rates on January 1.

Then, the Post Office decides to close at Noon today — the last business day of the year. Want to mail your Connecticut taxes to get the deduction in 2012? Don’t count on the Post Office for a 2012 postmark.

This is the same Post Office that installed P.O. Boxes in its new branch in no logical order. Do you think PO Box 141, for example, is between 140 and 142? Wrong! It is between 66 and 211, with box 30 to the north of it and 161 to the south of it.

This is also the same Post Office, or Postmaster, who when the lower Greenwich Avenue landmark Post Office closed and moved up the street, decided to make it tougher to mail anything on lower Greenwich Avenue. The Post Office replaced the double-load mailbox in front of Richard’s with a single one PLUS reduced the number of pick-ups at that box to one a day (at 11 a.m.) rather than the three pick-ups they used to make. To compound the problem, they remove the mailboxes from in front of the People’s Bank on Greenwich Avenue, and in front of the old Post Office building.

Government and its agencies are supposed to SERVE the people. Instead, they seem to be working actively to provide disservices to the public. But I guess we get the government we vote for.

Police from Greenwich and other Connecticut communities gave the beleaguered Newtown Police force a much-deserved Christmas present. They covered the Christmas eve and Christmas day shifts in Newtown, so that all Newtown Police and emergency dispatchers could have both days off.

Newtown, which generally has 4 or 5 officers per shift according to one source, since the tragedy, has been fielding upwards of 30 officers per shift due to funerals, and continued media presence in the town. Additionally, crime scene and other investigative activities have also occupied much police man-power.

GPD has been sending a few officers per shift since the tragedy — and Christmas was no exception.

And Newtown officers and dispatchers weren’t the only ones to get a Christmas treat. Resurrecting an old GPD custom, Chief Heavey worked a patrol shift on Christmas day, as did Command Staff Captain Mark Kordick — in place of two “rank and file” patrol officers. On Christmas eve, the names of the lucky officers for whom the Chief and Captain would cover were drawn from a hat. (Perhaps a Santa hat!) Reportedly, the Chief arrived for work at 6:30 a.m. presumably after this children opened their presents. December 25 is the Chief’s birthday, too.

That is how the men and women in blue spent Christmas — as they do every day, taking care of others.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Public Event presented by: the Greenwich Military Covenant of Care.

DATE: Thursday December 20 TIME: 6:00 PM to 6:45 PM
LOCATION: Lobby, Greenwich Police Department. (Directions below.)

The public is invited to WELCOME HOME FIVE GREENWICH MILITARY SERVICEMEN who have recently returned from Afghanistan and other combat areas.

They are all Greenwich High School graduates:
A U.S. Army Infantry Officer, awarded the bronze star;
a U.S. Marine Corps Infantry Officer;
a National Guard Infantry Medic;
a U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Specialist; and
a U.S. Navy SEAL.

There will also be three other program elements:

( 1 ) A soldier from the CT National Guard infantry unit “adopted” by Greenwich (“Alpha Company”) will present to the Town of Greenwich a flag flown at their Afghanistan location in gratitude to the people of Greenwich;

(2) the Town will honor two “fallen soldiers”; and

(3) The group will recognize, respect and appreciate the unique journey of mothers when a son or daughter has deployed to a war. Please join us to celebrate all of these exceptional young men and their mothers.

(4) The motor cycle unit of the “Patriot Guard Riders” will be thanked for their unheralded efforts in Connecticut to honor every military person returning home from the war.

The Greenwich Military Covenant of Care is a citizen group supported by the Board of Selectmen and the U.S. Military. It assists Greenwich families affected by the war. They have helped to develop a network of mothers in Greenwich who each have a military son or daughter who has experienced an Iraq or Afghanistan deployment.

DIRECTIONS TO THE EVENT: The Greenwich Police Department, 11 Bruce Place, Greenwich. The building’s front entrance is set back from Greenwich Avenue at the intersection with Arch Street and Havemeyer Place (behind the Senior Center, across from the Board of Education Building). The building can also be entered from Mason Street.

To learn more about the Greenwich Military Covenant of Care, please contact: Mary Jane Huffman – MJH_GR@yahoo.com or
Bruce Winningham: Mobile/Text = 203-536-4133
bwinningham@NorthStarPartnersInc.com
 Mail: 19 Shore Acre Drive, Old Greenwich, CT

The following GPD press release is brought to you courtesy of CAPP (Community and Police Partnership).

During the overnight hours between Tues 12/11/12 and Wed 12/12/12, forced entry was gained into a common underground garage on Steamboat Road. Several parked vehicles inside were entered or had parts stolen.
• A Mercedes CL63 AMG had all four wheels, tires, and lug nuts stolen – value approximately $ 2,000
• an Infiniti G37 had a window smashed and interior ransacked- GPS and loose change taken

Please contact the police tip line if anyone has any information. TIP-LINE: 203-622-3333, or 800-372-1176, or e-mail tips@greenwichct.org.

PRESS RELEASE FROM GPD courtesy of Community and Police Partnership (CAPP)

Patrick. D Robinson, 26, 109 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y., brought forged ID and documents to the Chase bank on Greenwich Ave and tried to open an account. An alert teller recognized that something was suspicious and called police. Robinson hurriedly left prior to the arrival of the patrol officers.

A plainclothes officer and a beat cop, located Robinson soon after in the area of Greenwich Avenue near a New York taxi cab driven by Juan Madrigal, 49, of 1685 Topping Ave., Apt. 64, Bronx, N.Y.

During the initial questioning Robinson suddenly fled from the scene. Upwards of a dozen patrol officer and detectives responded to the scene. The two officers who made initial contact with Robinson continued their foot chase of several blocks away from Greenwich Ave. They continued in a easterly direction, up a steep incline, into the backyard of a residence on Ridge Street. The pursuing officers made the apprehension with no-one being injured during the chase or apprehension.

Further investigation revealed that the cab driver,Madrigal, knowingly participated in the scheme and tried to dispose of additional pieces of the fraudulent documents which Robinson had left in the Taxi.

Madrigal was charged with credit card fraud, tampering with or fabricating a credit card and interfering with an officer. Robinson was charged with criminal impersonation, second-degree forgery, interfering with an officer and littering.

Both men were held overnight on $10,000 bond and are scheduled to appear in GA-1 State Superior Court in Stamford Dec. 12.

Sixteen year old Jeremy O’Connell ran away from his home during the evening hours on December 1, 2012. The family believes Jeremy snuck out of the house and left the area with some friends. These friends have all been interviewed and have not seen nor spoken to Jeremy since he left his house.

Jeremy is described as being approximately 5 ft 10 inches tall, approximately 180 lbs and wears glasses. The only clothing description is a black fleece jacket.

Jeremy has spoken about going to Washington DC, Ohio, and California. Jeremy has the means to facilitate a trip of this kind.

If observed please contact the Greenwich Police Department immediately at 203-622-8004.

At about noon there was an attempted burglary at a multi-family dwelling on Milbank Ave in central Greenwich.

A suspect (described as a white male, scruffy beard, and spoke with an unknown accent) was observed in the common area of the building. A neighbor heard banging in the hallway and came out to see what was the commotion was. The witness found the suspect attempting to pry open his neighbors door. The apartment was unoccupied at the time of the attempt.

The suspect made up a fictitious name of someone he was there to see and then fled on foot whilst the good neighbor was contacting the police. Officers flooded the area but the suspect was not located. A Stamford K-9 unit called and assisted the Greenwich Police. The K-9 tracked the suspect in southerly direction but ultimately lost the scent in the area of the train station.

This was the second burglary at the same multi-family dwelling in the last month. The previous burglary was reported on 11/20/2012 also in the middle of the day.

If anyone has any information regarding either incident please contact the Greenwich Police tip line: 203-622-3333, or 800-372-1176, or e-mail tips@greenwichct.org .