GoFundMe Page Raises Money For Fired Shelton Police Officers

SHELTON, CT – Shelton community members have created a GoFundMe page to support four police officers who were fired in the past month for dereliction of duty and lying during an investigation.

The fundraiser, organized by Michelle Laubin, Chris Jones and Barbara Resnick, was created on Aug. 21. In the description, the organizers claim "years of retaliatory actions by the Administration of the City of Shelton have taken their toll, and we now have many Police Officers who have been suspended or terminated without just cause."

Because of this, the organizers write, these officers and former officers can no longer afford to support their families or pay for food, rent, mortgages or medical bills.

To date, the page has raised $10,590 of its $15,000 goal.

On Aug. 12, Police Chief Shawn Sequeira said Caroline Morettia lied more than 20 times during an internal investigation, which centered on photos posted to the police union's Facebook page of officers changing outside, according to the Shelton Herald.

In the termination letter Sequeira wrote that Moretti staged a photo where she undressed down to her bra in the police department parking lot and had someone take a picture of her with her own phone. The letter was obtained by WTNH.

Moretti is the fourth officer to be fired recently in Shelton. Three other officers were fired after an internal affairs investigation related to a domestic disturbance response.

Officers John Napoleone and Michael McClaine and Lt. Dave Moore were fired in July for dereliction of duty, according to the New Haven Register.

The investigation involved the two officers' response to an alleged domestic violence situation that involved a now-fired Bridgeport police Officer Steven Figueroa. Figueroa was later charged with first-degree sexual assault.

According to the page, all funds raised will be distributed to the officers who lost wages.
"First priority will be given to making sure that every officer who has been on the wrong end of a retaliatory disciplinary act by the City is able to fund their basic expenses and support their families, and then to funding their legal fight against the City," the organizers wrote.