Request For Additional Money for Investigation Goes Before Town Meeting

Town voters will have a chance Tuesday to decide whether to pay another $8,200 for the conclusion of an independent investigation of the Windsor Locks Police Department’s actions after a fatal October accident.

The board of selectmen last week approved sending the proposal to a town meeting, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in . A request for an additional $22,100 to cover the expense of clearing snow from the roofs of town hall, the senior center and safety complex is also on the agenda.

Independent investigator Frank Rudewicz on April 12 asked the board of finance for the additional money. The boards of finance  and selectmen have approved requesting the amount at town meeting.

Residents on Jan. 4 approved the town spending up to $30,000 on an independent investigation of police officials actions after the accident. Town officials said the independent investigation is civil in nature and will have more leeway to interview and perhaps punish people than a criminal investigation.

Rudewicz told town officials he didn’t realize the amount of people who were involved in the investigation.

However, during last week’s board of selectmen meeting, one selectman, Denise Balboni, objected to authorizing additional money for the investigation.

Balboni said it didn’t sit well with her at all to have pay more money to the investigator.

“It seems like to me if you quote a price for a job, you live within the price you set,” Balboni said.

First Selectman Steven N. Wawruck Jr., who cast the deciding vote, said the board is not endorsing the request but just passing the question along to the voters in the town meeting.

Rudewicz needs to interview members of the North Central Municipal Accident Reconstruction Team before he can complete his investigation, Neal Cunningham, police commission chairman, said on April 13. They were in charge of the accident scene from about 1 a.m. that day. Rudewicz had difficulty in speaking with the team members because he had to get permission from each of their police chiefs, Cunningham told the police commission.

Rudewicz had requested $7,000 to $14,000, but settled on $8,200 as his final request to the board of finance, Cunningham said.


Former Windsor Locks police officer Michael Koistinen, 25, of Suffield, is charged with first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, negligent homicide with a motor vehicle, misconduct with a motor vehicle, and attempt to tamper with evidence. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Nov. 23 in Hartford Superior Court.

Fifteen-year-old Henry Dang was killed when he was hit by a car driven by Michael Koistinen, then an off-duty Windsor Locks police officer, who state police allege was drinking for several hours before the accident.

Robert Koistinen is a Windsor Locks police sergeant and has been on administrative leave with pay since the accident, his annual salary is $73,385. He pleaded not guilty in January to charges he interfered with the investigation of  the Oct. 29 fatal accident in which his son was involved.
 
The Windsor Locks Police Commission fired Michael Koistinen, a probationary officer, on Dec. 8.

The Koistinens are next due in court on May 5 when a judge will canvass them about whether they feel a conflict of interest may arise in the future with their attorneys. Elliot Spector originally represented Michael Koistinen after the fatal accident, when Robert Koistinen was arrested Spector became his attorney as well. Prosecutors don’t want that to be used as an issue for appeal should either man be convicted.

At their February 10 court appearance, Michael Koistinen retained the services of attorney Ray Haslett and Spector remained Robert Koistinen’s lawyer.