Danbury officer rehired after berating motorist up for promotion

Christopher Belair, 43, will be one of five police officers presented to the Danbury City Council for rank advancement Thursday. If approved, Belair will be promoted from officer to sergeant.

Since rejoining the force, Belair has not only earned several accolades — including a unit citation in August 2019, Exceptional Police Service Awards in December 2019 and July 2020, and a Lifesaving Medal in December 2021 — but “assumed full responsibility” for what happened and used his experience as a teaching tool for other officers, according to the mayor’s communication advisor, Francesca Capodilupo.

In addition to serving as a certified field training officer, she said Belair has become a certified instructor in ethical decision-making and used his story and experience as an example of what not to do. 

Capodilupo said that, along with his other merits, have earned Belair what Mayor Roberto Alves referred to in a Dec. 21 letter to the City Council as a “well-deserved promotion.”

“It is evident that Officer Belair is a highly qualified and skilled individual who will continue to thrive in this new role and make substantial contributions to the Department and City,” Alves wrote, noting that Belair ranked No. 1 on the police sergeant eligibility list.

Attempts to reach Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour were unsuccessful. 

In a Dec. 21 letter supporting his promotion,Alves said Belair has demonstrated “commitment and talent” since beginning his career with the Danbury Police Department in August 2008. 

The letter does not mention the trouble Belair found himself in nearly 11 years ago that resulted in his firing and later rehiring.

Belair was terminated in June 2013 by Danbury’s mayor at the time, Mark Boughton, after a video surfaced showing him shouting profanities and threatening physical harm at a motorist.

“If there weren’t four other cops here, I’d beat the (expletive) out of you,” Belair shouted during the March 2013 traffic stop, according to court documents. The officer’s tirade was viewed by some as anti-immigrant as he could be heard in the video yelling, “Stop being in this country and almost (expletive) killing people.”

Court records show Chalco filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in 2015, accusing Belair of excessive force and all four officers involved in the traffic stop of deliberate indifference to medical needs.

In his complaint, Chalco claimed that Belair punched him in the mouth during the March 2013 incident, causing his lips to bleed, and that none of the officers asked whether he needed medical attention.

After a U.S. District Court judge denied a motion for summary judgment in the case, Belair and the other three officers appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, contending that “the district court should have concluded they were entitled to qualified immunity,” according to court documents.

In July 2018, the appeals court dismissed the interlocutory appeals of the other three officers, but affirmed the district court’s denial of qualified immunity for Belair on the excessive force claim and remanded the case for further proceedings.

Court records show Chalco’s lawsuit ended in March 2019 after a settlement was reached between him and Belair — the details of which were not made public.

Six months before that, an arbitration panel found that while Belair’s conduct during the March 2013 incident was “outrageous and disturbing,” the city lacked just cause to terminate his employment and a 90-day suspension would have been a more appropriate punishment.

Officials said in 2018 that the three other officers involved in the traffic stop had received unpaid suspensions ranging from 30 to 180 days.

The city appealed the arbitration panel’s ruling, but a Superior Court judge ruled in 2018 that the arbitrator’s decision should stand and ordered Danbury to rehire him.

Danbury City Council President Peter Buzaid said that he expects Belair’s promotion will be approved during the council’s Jan. 4 meeting.

“We look at him and we take seriously the recommendations of the department, and I expect his promotion to pass because of the strong recommendation of the members and staff of the department,” Buzaid said Wednesday, adding that while he doesn’t condone “any parts of (Belair’s) behavior in the past,” he believes people can change.

In addition to Belair, the Danbury City Council’s Jan. 4 meeting agenda shows recommended police department promotions for Sgt. Stephen Hilderbrand, Sgt. Matthew Malone, Officer Stephen Gruse and Officer Michael Iaquinto. If approved, Hilderbrand and Malone will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and Gruse and Iaquinto will be promoted to the rank of sergeant.

Michael Gagne contributed to this report.