UPDATED: Jury finds in favor of Norwich Police in retaliation suit

A jury in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport has concluded that the Norwich Police Department did not retaliate against former police officer Jamie Longolucco by firing him in December 2007.

Longolucco, 37, of Griswold claimed the department fired him because he complained about discrimination against people of Hispanic origin, filed a Workers Compensation claim after injuring his back, and took his story to local newspapers.

The department contended that Longolucco, who was convicted in 2008 of two misdemeanor charges, was terminated for bad behavior and good cause.

Longolucco, who worked for the department for nine years, said the jury deliberated for four hours before reaching its verdict this afternoon. He was disappointed, but said he would be moving on with his life.

“I said before I’d fight this thing like a bulldog with rabies, and that’s what I’ve done,” Longolucco said. “Now I move on.”

Police Chief Louis J. Fusaro, who had testified at the three-day civil trial before Judge Warren W. Eginton, listened to closing arguments Friday morning and stayed in Bridgeport to await the verdict.

“I’m very pleased that a jury of eight members of the community saw the truth in the outlandish accusations that Mr. Longolucco made against the city, the department and the members,” Fusaro said. “It’s a complete exoneration in federal court.”

The trial included testimony from Longolucco, Fusaro, Deputy Chief Warren Mocek, Lt. Christopher D. Ferace, retired Capt. Timothy Menard and Sgt. James Deveny. Fusaro said his colleagues made him proud as they “explained the real truth of Mr. Longolucco.”

“We did the right thing, and the jury saw that we did the right thing for the right reason,” he said.

Attorney Joseph W. McQuade of Hartford represented the City of Norwich and the police department. Longolucco had retained attorney Peter Bartinik Jr. of Groton.

“We’re disappointed, but the judge gave us a fair trial, and that’s all we were asking for,” Bartinik said.

Longolucco was seeking monetary damages and back pay. In a 2010 interview with The Day, Longolucco said he flourished on the job for the first five or six years and was frequently recognized by his superiors for disarming robbery suspects, seizing illegal narcotics, bringing home missing children and working with a neighborhood group.

Longolucco said things deteriorated. He said superiors discriminated against him based on his Hispanic heritage - he’s also half Italian, he said - calling him a “dirty Mexican” and other slurs and joking about the crime of “DWH,” or “Driving While Hispanic” in the city. In the defense’s answer to the claim in a court document, Chief Fusaro, who has characterized Longolucco’s claims as “wild” and “outrageous,” said he was unaware that Longolucco was Hispanic.

Longolucco also claimed that after he injured his back and filed a worker’s compensation claim, the department retaliated by assigning him to a walking beat.

He claimed also that he was treated unfairly after he told local newspapers that he had notified superiors of possible drug activity involving former Lt. Michael Blanchette. Longolucco said the department ignored the information and took no action until Blanchette was arrested in the Bronx in 2008 for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Longolucco pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and breach of peace after being arrested after he and fellow officer Damien Martin had an altercation with a woman they were visiting at a New London apartment. He was charged with two other crimes that were not prosecuted. Police said that on the day he was fired, Longolucco went to the Jewett City resident trooper’s office seeking help for his homicidal feelings against the police chief. He was charged with threatening. A month later, police charged him with stealing three fake Faberge eggs from a downtown Mystic store.

Longolucco said he plans to go to law school and “defend folks like myself against police corruption.”