Deal reached on ‘Ticketgate’ charges

Former police union president to retire next year, drop legal action against city

Daniel Kittredge
Posted 7/1/15

The former Cranston police union president who ordered a November 2013 overnight parking ticket blitz will drop his legal action against the city and retire next year under the terms of an agreement …

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Deal reached on ‘Ticketgate’ charges

Former police union president to retire next year, drop legal action against city

Posted

The former Cranston police union president who ordered a November 2013 overnight parking ticket blitz will drop his legal action against the city and retire next year under the terms of an agreement announced last week.

Capt. Stephen Antonucci, who has been on paid leave since April 2014, is set to retire in April 2016. According to a statement from the office of Mayor Allan Fung, the agreement, which came following “mandatory appellate court mediation” overseen by retired Chief Justice Frank Williams in Rhode Island Supreme Court on June 16, allows Antonucci to use his accrued leave time before his formal departure.

While Antonucci will drop all legal action related to the matter, the city, as part of the agreement, will drop its prosecution of the captain under the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights. At the time he was placed on leave, Antonucci was charged with multiple counts of misconduct, with the recommendation he be fired. A nearly 20-year veteran of the force, the 42-year-old Antonucci receives an annual salary of nearly $120,000. According to the statement from the mayor’s office, Antonucci “will not receive any benefits beyond the city’s contractual obligations.” He will be eligible for a pension.

Through the statement, both Fung and Chief of Police Col. Michael Winquist framed the agreement as being fiscally prudent and a chance for closure.

“After approximately one year of intense litigation and the prospect for considerably more court action, I am pleased to report that this difficult chapter for the Cranston Police Department is coming to a close,” Fung said.

“This agreement will permit the men and women of the Cranston Police Department to move forward and save the taxpayers thousands of dollars in anticipated legal costs. As always, we worked diligently to find the most cost-effective resolution for the residents of our city. I am very grateful for the support of Chief Winquist in reaching this agreement and the assistance of Chief Justice Williams for helping to resolve this matter through the mediation process.”

“The settlement agreement that was reached with Captain Antonucci will bring closure to an incident that has hurt the reputation of the Cranston Police Department,” Winquist said. “This agreement will allow the many hard-working men and women of the Cranston Police Department to continue to do their jobs with integrity and professionalism and without further distraction. I support this agreement fully and look forward to a new day for our department.”

City Council President John Lanni was critical of the agreement.

“I don’t like the idea at all of people being rewarded for doing something wrong,” he said. “What kind of message does that send to the rest of the officers in the city?”

Lanni said he expects a special meeting of the council to be held within the next two weeks to discuss the matter. He said he is seeking full details regarding how the agreement was reached and its terms, including the pension and other benefits for which Antonucci will be eligible.

“I think we have a right to know exactly what’s transpired here,” he said. “Right now the public doesn’t know, and I think they have a right to know.”

Michael Sepe, chairman of the Cranston Democratic City Committee, was sharper in his criticism. In his own statement, he pointed to the legal costs associated with Antonucci’s case and others within the police department and called the agreement “a slap in the face” of the city’s taxpayers.

“Will Fung ask Cranston’s voters to approve a bond to pay for his neglect and embarrassing mismanagement?” he said. “Is this part of Fung’s plan to reduce Cranston’s overwhelming pension deficit?”

Antonucci provided the following statement to WJAR:

“As a captain in the Cranston Police Department and a proud resident of the City of Cranston, I have always strived to make decisions in the best interest of the people that I serve. I will miss serving and protecting my community and the fellowship of my colleagues in the Cranston Police Department and the other public servants of the City of Cranston. I will continue to live by the same goals and ideals which motivated me to serve the people of Cranston and brings so much fulfillment to my life as a law enforcement officer.”

Antonucci is the key figure in the so-called “Ticketgate” episode of late 2013, in which Ward 1 Councilman Steven Stycos and Ward 3 Councilman Paul Archetto alleged their neighborhoods had been blanketed with overnight parking tickets in retaliation for a vote of the council’s Finance Committee against a new contract with International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 301. At the time, Antonucci was the union’s president.

Antonucci has acknowledged ordering the ticket blitz but insists it was not politically motivated and that the timing was coincidental. He has said the ticketing was meant to accommodate officials’ requests for stricter enforcement of the city’s overnight parking ban.

“Ticketgate” led to months of unrest and major changes in the department, including a temporary transfer of leadership to the Rhode Island State Police and the retirement of former Col. Marco Palombo.

In addition to an investigation of the ticketing, Fung had requested a comprehensive review of the police department as part of the state police involvement. Officials have in recent weeks indicated a report outlining the review’s findings may be nearing completion, although Lanni said he is uncertain of its status outside of “rumors.”

“I haven’t heard any status on it,” he said. “When it comes out, it comes out, I guess.”

In another police-related development, it appears Fung’s administration and Local 301 have reached a new contract agreement.

Two separate contracts – one covering the fiscal years 2013 and 2014, and a second for fiscal years 2015 through 2017 – were introduced as new business and referred to committee during the council’s June 22 meeting. The union has been without a new contract since the previous pact expired in 2012.

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