Stonington — The couple who own the Lighthouse Bakery in downtown Mystic have filed two complaints against the town, charging that town employees have discriminated against them because of their Iranian heritage.

Mercedeh Pourmoghadam and Massoud Kalkhoran have filed a complaint with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, as well as one with the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The latter appeals a cease-and-desist order issued to them for having an illegal sandwich board sign in front of their 21 East Main St. business.

They have charged that police refused to arrest a tenant who had been threatening them, and allege police now follow them and park cruisers near their business as a form of intimidation.

They allege that Zoning Enforcement Officer Candace Palmer targets minority-owned businesses such as theirs, while not citing others for illegal signs.

“However, the town of Stonington has constantly and continuously harassed and intimidated us in a discriminatory fashion ...” they wrote in their appeal of the cease-and-desist order, which the Zoning Board of Appeals will consider on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the police station.

First Selectman George Crouse, police Capt. Todd Olson and Palmer all declined to discuss the couple’s charges because of the ongoing litigation.

Crouse did say that it is Palmer’s duty to enforce the zoning regulations when she receives a complaint.

Pourmoghadam and Kalkhoran declined to discuss their allegations with The Day last week.

In Kalkhoran’s December 2014 written complaint to the state CHRO, he refers to a June 15, 2014, incident in which he said their tenant called them “Iranian terrorists” and threatened to burn down their bakery, rape Pourmoghadam and “send people from New London to take care of” him.

Kalkhoran said that while they asked to press charges, police did not charge the man.

He alleged that on many occasions when they called 911 to make complaints, police yelled and screamed at the couple while speaking calmly and respectfully to the tenant who was eventually evicted.

The couple allege on those calls police used their cruisers to block their driveway so customers could not enter or leave the bakery.

“I understand the action was always to intimidate me and my family,” Kalkhoran wrote.

They allege the tenants, his father and friends continued to threaten and harass them.

He alleged that after one incident, an officer asked in a sarcastic tone “so where are you from anyway?”

Kalkhoran did not identify the responding officers. He only expressed dissatisfaction with a meeting he had with Olson and Lt. Bryan Schneider.

He said police did track down the tenant's father, who also allegedly threatened Kalkhoran, to his Waterford home and had police there warn the man that he would be arrested if he returned to the bakery.

Kalkhoran said a police officer would not help when water from the tenant’s apartment was leaking into the bakery near electrical wires.

“He showed no concern for our safety or his responsibility as an officer to protect us. After all, a non-Caucasian educated minority owns this business and property and that is extremely difficult for Stonington Police Department to swallow,” he wrote.

“Since June 15, 2014 my wife, my children and I have lived in fear because Stonington Police Department refuses to protect us,” he wrote. “We live in fear and are appalled as how a police department is able to continue this type of harassment.”

In their appeal of the cease-and-desist order, the couple argue that not only is their sign legal under their reading of the regulations, but that the town has not take action against others with similar signs.

They also allege that when Palmer visited the bakery to inspect it before issuing a certificate of occupancy in 2012, Palmer said she needed a witness when she signed it so she returned with a man she described as “the sheriff of the Town of Stonington.”

The couple wrote that when they went to Town Hall to inquire about the visit, they discovered the man was the town engineer and the town has no sheriff.

After consulting an attorney they reported the incident to police because impersonating an officer is a felony.

They decided not to pursue the issue because they said they “hoped and still hope” to have an amicable relationship with the town.

“Unfortunately, there are many more examples like this, which seem to indicate to us the Town of Stonington does not welcome minority owned business owners like us,” they wrote.

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas