Record-Journal
10-24-2007, 12:09 AM
WALLINGFORD — The state will not seek prosecutions involving an alleged altercation between Democratic mayoral candidate James Vumbaco and independent campaign volunteer Erik Gilbert.
A prosecutor has declined to sign two arrest warrant applications submitted by the Wallingford Police Department in connection with an Oct. 8 incident, police Lt. Marc Mikulski said Tuesday. Police filed those applications Friday.
Mikulski would not say who was named in the two warrant applications, but the Oct. 8 incident involved an alleged spat between two men in the Judd Square condominium who were later independently identified as Vumbaco and Gilbert. Both live in the South Cherry Street condominium complex.
Mikulski said the case is now closed and that information about it will not be released, since warrants were not signed.
In a written statement, Vumbaco said Tuesday he felt “vindicated” that the state is not pursuing charges.
“Hopefully, voters will now focus on what is really important in the upcoming election — the issues,” he wrote. “Character assassination is now off the table.”
Vumbaco also said in the statement that “it’s unfortunate that allegations affecting a person’s reputation are not investigated more closely” by the media, including both print and blogs.
Gilbert said he was upset by the prosecutor’s decision and he believed Vumbaco was given preferential treatment because of his political status. A regular person, Gilbert said, would have been charged in such an incident.
“I just feel my constitutional rights were stomped on by the prosecutor’s office and by Mr. Vumbaco,” he said. “I hope things change.”
Gilbert said he was aware that police were also looking to charge him because he “re-engaged” with Vumbaco during the incident, but he was not worried about it.
“If they’re going to arrest me for basically standing up for my rights, then I was fine with that,” he said.
When the story about the incident first broke, Vumbaco only made a few brief written comments. In Tuesday’s statement, he said that speaking to the print media or on a live broadcast “would have given life to a story that had been highly exaggerated.”
Upon hearing that the case had been dropped, Gilbert’s father, Wayne, claimed that Vumbaco’s status as a mayoral candidate likely influenced the police investigation.
“They did not say so, but I could tell they weren’t comfortable because of who the person was that the allegations were against,” he said.
Police Chief Douglas Dortenzio said police are only concerned with assessing the evidence fairly, rather than with a person’s public profile.
“From our standpoint, we’re more interested with evidence then I am with the profile,” he said.
On Columbus Day, Oct. 8, 18-year-old Erik Gilbert was passing out campaign literature for independent mayoral candidate Lucille Trzcinski at Judd Square. Gilbert claimed he unwittingly placed literature on Vumbaco’s door and soon after was confronted by Vumbaco.
Gilbert alleged Vumbaco swore at him and became physical by poking him and bumping chests. In an Oct. 15 statement, Vumbaco claimed that Gilbert had used offensive language and called him a “f***ing Nazi.” Vumbaco said he told Gilbert to remove the campaign literature because solicitation is prohibited.
Solicitation is prohibited at the complex, according to Judd Square manager Brian Ennis, but Gilbert argued he had a right to distribute political literature, especially because he lived in the building.
Gilbert said police seized a video surveillance tape of the incident. The Record-Journal requested the tape, but police have not released it.
The Meriden state’s attorney’s office, which reviewed Wallingford’s arrest warrant applications, did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday.
A prosecutor has declined to sign two arrest warrant applications submitted by the Wallingford Police Department in connection with an Oct. 8 incident, police Lt. Marc Mikulski said Tuesday. Police filed those applications Friday.
Mikulski would not say who was named in the two warrant applications, but the Oct. 8 incident involved an alleged spat between two men in the Judd Square condominium who were later independently identified as Vumbaco and Gilbert. Both live in the South Cherry Street condominium complex.
Mikulski said the case is now closed and that information about it will not be released, since warrants were not signed.
In a written statement, Vumbaco said Tuesday he felt “vindicated” that the state is not pursuing charges.
“Hopefully, voters will now focus on what is really important in the upcoming election — the issues,” he wrote. “Character assassination is now off the table.”
Vumbaco also said in the statement that “it’s unfortunate that allegations affecting a person’s reputation are not investigated more closely” by the media, including both print and blogs.
Gilbert said he was upset by the prosecutor’s decision and he believed Vumbaco was given preferential treatment because of his political status. A regular person, Gilbert said, would have been charged in such an incident.
“I just feel my constitutional rights were stomped on by the prosecutor’s office and by Mr. Vumbaco,” he said. “I hope things change.”
Gilbert said he was aware that police were also looking to charge him because he “re-engaged” with Vumbaco during the incident, but he was not worried about it.
“If they’re going to arrest me for basically standing up for my rights, then I was fine with that,” he said.
When the story about the incident first broke, Vumbaco only made a few brief written comments. In Tuesday’s statement, he said that speaking to the print media or on a live broadcast “would have given life to a story that had been highly exaggerated.”
Upon hearing that the case had been dropped, Gilbert’s father, Wayne, claimed that Vumbaco’s status as a mayoral candidate likely influenced the police investigation.
“They did not say so, but I could tell they weren’t comfortable because of who the person was that the allegations were against,” he said.
Police Chief Douglas Dortenzio said police are only concerned with assessing the evidence fairly, rather than with a person’s public profile.
“From our standpoint, we’re more interested with evidence then I am with the profile,” he said.
On Columbus Day, Oct. 8, 18-year-old Erik Gilbert was passing out campaign literature for independent mayoral candidate Lucille Trzcinski at Judd Square. Gilbert claimed he unwittingly placed literature on Vumbaco’s door and soon after was confronted by Vumbaco.
Gilbert alleged Vumbaco swore at him and became physical by poking him and bumping chests. In an Oct. 15 statement, Vumbaco claimed that Gilbert had used offensive language and called him a “f***ing Nazi.” Vumbaco said he told Gilbert to remove the campaign literature because solicitation is prohibited.
Solicitation is prohibited at the complex, according to Judd Square manager Brian Ennis, but Gilbert argued he had a right to distribute political literature, especially because he lived in the building.
Gilbert said police seized a video surveillance tape of the incident. The Record-Journal requested the tape, but police have not released it.
The Meriden state’s attorney’s office, which reviewed Wallingford’s arrest warrant applications, did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday.