CT officer charged with driving aggression incident, retires after investigation

A Norwalk police officer who was arrested in an off-duty driving rage incident earlier this year has resigned from the police department for about a week after an internal investigation found he violated several departmental policies.

Officer David Vetare retired from the Norwalk Police Department on Tuesday, Police Chief James Walsh said in a statement. Walsh said he retired after an internal investigation into Vetare’s March arrest was completed.

The investigation found that Vetare violated several “rules of conduct” in the Norwalk Police Manual.

“As I have said before, these actions do not define our department as a whole and are not reflective of the men and women of the Norwalk Police Department who serve our citizens,” Walsh said in a statement released Wednesday. “I understand that these events have shaken the trust in our department that we have worked so hard to build in the past. I assure the residents of Norwalk that I am committed to transparency, officer accountability and maintaining the highest standards of integrity.”

Vetare was arrested by Connecticut State Police on March 9 after officers arrived around noon on a report of a road rage incident in the area of ​​Route 25 South near Exit 6 in Trumbull, state police said.

The plaintiff told troopers she was involved in an incident with a motorist in a GMC Yukon who allegedly threw objects at her vehicle while both vehicles were traveling on Route 15 North between exits 44 and 49, according to state police. The woman also claimed the driver followed her and tried to run her off the road.

State police were able to locate the vehicle and identify the driver as Vetare. Troopers said he admitted his involvement in the incident and was arrested for reckless endangerment, reckless driving, driving with intent to harass or intimidate and second-degree breach of peace. After the arrest, he was released on $5,000 bail.

According to state court records, the charges are still pending in Bridgeport Superior Court. Vetare has not entered a guilty plea and is scheduled to appear in court next Thursday.

At the time of the DUI incident, Vetare was the third Norwalk police officer to be arrested in less than a month.

Norwalk Officer Hector Delgado was arrested by the Bridgeport Police Department on charges of third-degree stalking and second-degree harassment in connection with a domestic violence incident on Feb. 7. He was also arrested again by his own agency last month and charged with first-degree menacing, second-degree breach of peace and tailing with a motor vehicle.

On February 16, Sergeant Shannon Sherry, 48, of Norwalk, turned himself in to state police on charges of failure to maintain proper lane and improper conduct of a motor vehicle in connection with a rollover crash on Interstate 84 in Southington in April 2023 in which a New Britain man died when he was ejected from his pickup truck.

Both Delgado and Sherry were placed on leave following their arrest and are the subject of internal investigations.

According to court records, charges stemming from Delgado’s June arrest are still pending in Stamford Superior Court. His previous arrest is not listed on the state’s Justice Department website. The outcome of that case was not immediately clear Wednesday.

According to the documents, charges against Sherry are still pending in New Britain Superior Court.