UPDATE: Voters Make Decision on Settlement with Former Windsor Locks Police Sergeant Robert Koistinen

Update:

Windsor Locks residents approved the $460,000 settlement with former Sergeant Robert Koistinen by a 387-178 vote in Tuesday’s town referendum, according to NBC Connecticut.

Original story

Windsor Locks residents will vote on the $460,000 settlement agreement with former Sergeant Robert Koistinen, who was acquitted in 2012 of hindering the drunken driving investigation of his son in which a 15-year-old was killed in a crash while riding his bike in 2010, on Tuesday.

The Board of Finance and Board of Selectmen recently approved the settlement, which was agreed to by the Windsor Locks Police Commission for Koistinen to end his labor dispute with the town, and it will now go to the residents for a town referendum, which is open from 12 noon until 8 p.m.

Voting will be held at the following polling places:

• District 1 — Windsor Locks Town Office Building, at 50 Church Street.
• District 2 — Windsor Locks High School, South Elm Street.

Koistinen’s son, Michael Koistinen (a former Windsor Locks officer) is currently serving a 64-month sentence at the MacDougall Walker Correctional Center after pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of Henry Dang. Michael Koistinen’s vehicle struck Dang while he was riding his bike home in October of 2010. Robert Koistinen was the senior officer on duty when the accident occurred.

Robert Koistinen was fired from the Windsor Locks Police Department in January 2012 and charged with hindering prosecution in the investigation into the crash, according to NBC Connecticut. He was acquitted in October 2012.

The state Labor Board later decided that Koistinen should get his job back.

If the settlement agreement is approved at the town meeting, Robert Koistinen will receive nearly $265,000 in back pay that the town owes him and $195,000 to drop his labor complaint against the town.

NBC reports that if the settlement fails at the referendum, Koistinen would be reinstated to active duty and become the fourth-ranking member of the department, costing the town at least $347,000 for back pay, retraining and re-certification.