News
Chester selectman candidate allegedly forged bill of sale |
Posted on Nov 30 2009 |
CHESTER — The first selectman hopeful arrested last week is accused of selling a neighbor’s car on Craigslist and forging a bill of sale, according to a recently released arrest warrant. Democrat Charles A. Della Rocco, 41, unsuccessfully tried to unseat incumbent First Selectman Thomas Marsh in the last election.
Della Rocco was arrested Nov. 6. An investigation started when his neighbor, Cheryl Lynch, called police on July 30 to say that she had loaned Della Rocco a blue Ford F-250 pickup truck she and her husband owned and that he sold it without their permission, according to the arrest warrant. She told police not to arrest Della Rocco, who serves as a police officer for the state Supreme Court, and that arrangements had been made to bring the car back, although she would call back if the car did not show up.
Lynch called police again on Aug. 4 to say that she had gotten the vehicle back July 31, she said, but she also spoke with the buyer, a Coventry man, who gave her a state Department of Motor Vehicles bill of sale Della Rocco had provided, the warrant states.
The bill of sale was dated July 24 and listed the price of the Ford truck as $1,200. Cheryl’s husband, Peter Lynch, swore to police that his signature on the bill of sale had been forged. Cheryl Lynch told police that she and Della Rocco made a verbal agreement that if he had her 1996 Chrysler LeBaron professionally repaired, she would give him the Ford truck, according to the warrant.
Della Rocco was supposed to have the LeBaron towed by Oceanside Towing Company, but the car was never towed or repaired, Lynch told police in August.
When her husband saw that the truck was no longer parked at Della Rocco’s house on July 29, he called Della Rocco, who said that it was at a friend’s house being welded and that he had not sold it, according to the warrant.
Police first contacted Della Rocco about the incident on Oct. 5, and a meeting was arranged on Oct. 22. One half hour before he was scheduled to meet with police, Della Rocco cancelled the meeting and said he wished to seek legal counsel, according to the warrant.
The Craigslist buyer initially agreed to fax police a written statement about the incident but never did, and attempts to contact him again were unsuccessful, the arrest warrant states.
According to the warrant, Lynch changed her mind about wanting Della Rocco arrested after learning of the fraudulent bill of sale. Della Rocco was arrested Nov. 5 for second-degree forgery and third-degree larceny.
A. Paul Spinella, a Hartford lawyer who represents Della Rocco, said that while he has not yet seen the warrant, he disputes the facts in the case.
He said Della Rocco had been given the Lynchs’ run-down truck, which was “basically valueless, or of very little value,” repaired the car himself at his own expense, and returned it to them.
“If there is a dispute here, and I don’t see how there is, (Cheryl Lynch) is in possession of the vehicle now,” Spinella said. “Where is the crime?”
By HANNAH VAHL
Press staff
URL: http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2009/11/14/news/doc4afe1f5ae3613905453203.prt
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