State Orders Danbury to Rehire Police Officer

DANBURY, CT — The city has been ordered by Connecticut's arbitration board to rehire Police Officer Daniel Sellner, the News-Times is reporting. Sellner was accused of using excessive force during an arrest and fired three years ago.

This is the second time in two months that Danbury has been ordered to rehire a police officer. The city's decision to fire Officer Chris Belair for berating a motorist in 2013 was also overturned.

Before his termination, Sellner had been was accused of treating a young man roughly in a holding cell, threatening a motorist at a city gas station, was suspended without pay for making a lewd comment to an elementary school teacher, and he underwent retraining after misusing a Taser on a motorist.

In the arrest for which he was fired, Sellner was accused of pushing the perpetrator to the ground while the youth was in handcuffs. The police union argued that there was no clear evidence of unreasonable force shown in the video of the incident.

Read more on the story in the News Times.

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