Letter to the Editor: Another Police Investigation at Granby Public Works

A letter to the editor from Granby resident Bill Regan

A police report has surfaced concerning a possible theft of copper wire from the site of the Holcomb Farm renovation. On July 9th, 2014, GPD received a tip from two DPW employees regarding “a possible larceny of copper wire.”

The report stated that a town employee, identified as David Shinder “took a load of copper wire from the jobsite and brought the copper wire to his house.”

Detective Steven Vernale conducted the investigation after meeting with Capt. William Tyler, Chief Carl Rosensweig and DPW Acting Deputy Director Kirk Severance . Severance “stated he highly doubted Shinder would take the wire and more than likely loaded the wire to take to the transfer station to place in one of the metal bins.” Severance could not locate the wire at the transfer station.

At this point the question came up if Shinder had permission to take the wire. Antonucci Electric was the electrical contractor of record, yet throughout the investigation there was no indication, at this time, that Antonucci either gave Shinder permission to take the wire or in fact had the authority to give that permission.
Det. Vernale, Severance and Shinder met at the Granby Animal Shelter where Severance “advised Shinder the complaint stated Shinder took the wire he had in the back of his truck from the job at Holcomb Farm. Shinder originally said no, but then asked if we wanted it back.” At this point, Shinder told Det. Vernale that the wire was at his residence. “Shinder apologized and said he couldn’t believe he did such a stupid thing” and “said he wasn’t thinking when he took the wire. Shinder said he was going to user the wire on one of his barns.”

Det. Vernale, Severance and Shinder loaded the wire into Severance’s truck after Shinder cut it into pieces to reduce weight. Det. Vernale stated “the wire was relatively thick in diameter. About the thickness of an electrical primary wire” and “possibly several hundred pounds in weight.” The wire was later secured at the impound lot.
Det. Vernale met with John Antonucci at Antonucci’s residence to discuss the incident. Antonucci stated that he did not have permission to take the wire and also that Shinder did not ask him about the wire. Antonucci told Det. Vernale that Shinder said “they” told him he could have the wire if he could “get the wire out of the ground”. Antonucci did not know who “they” were. Shinder told Antonucci later that Shinder “able to pull all of the wire out and he brought it home to strip”. This directly contradicts Shinder’s first statement that “he was going to user the wire on one of his barns.”

Much of the balance of the report centers on what was to be done with the wire and who, if anyone, authorized Shinder to take it for his own use. It appears the DS took the wire without any specific permission. Severance stated “the plan was to place the wire in a metal bin in order to collect some monetary value for it.” Severance also stated “he told Shinder to place the wire in one of the two metal bins located at the transfer station or at DPW”. Det. Vernale “asked Severance if Shinder received permission from anyone to take the wire. Severance said no.”

During a subsequent interview with Capt. Tyler, Severance “didn’t specifically tell Shinder to put the wire in the metal bins. Severance told Capt. Tyler that Severance advised me (Det. Vernale) of what Shinder should have done and the normal disposition of the wire should have been for a similar job. Severance told Capt. Tyler he didn’t believe he needed to instruct DS on what to do with the wire since Shinder is a foreman and would be well aware of the procedure.”

On July 15, 2014, Det. Vernale “was advised by the Chief that the town had determined that the material had minimal to no value. The employee could reasonably have surmised that tasking the wire for personal use was acceptable. The matter is therefore not potentially criminal in nature and no police investigation is warranted.”
It has since come to light that Town Manager Bill Smith told Chief Rosensweig that the wire “had minimal to no value”.

This calls to question several points in the report; Shinder first stated he was going to wire one of his barns and then said he was going to strip it. The only reason to strip the wire was to sell it to a scrap dealer. Doing some basic research and going back to the report that Shinder had to cut the wire with a torch in order to transport it to the impound lot and then to the Transfer Station, the wire weighed 250-300 pounds and at current scrap value was worth $500.-$900. This episode has all the earmarks of giving another DPW employee (who should have known better as James Klase should have known better) a pass on wrong decision that he tried to cover up. If it weren’t for the two DPW employees who called attention to the incident, no one would know about the activities at DPW and the potential demoralizing effect it has. Not to mention the “bad actors”.

A full copy of the report is available at the Granby Police Department. It is Incident #14-772-OF.

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