Suspended Norwalk police officer threatened to shoot a motorist

Norwalk Officer Hector Delgado allegedly threatened to shoot another motorist during a traffic dispute in early June, according to a warrant.

Bridgeport Police

NORWALK – A now-suspended Norwalk police officer allegedly threatened to shoot a motorist after a traffic dispute earlier this month, according to an arrest affidavit.

Detective Dominick Cisero of the Norwalk Police Department wrote in the affidavit that the department first learned of the allegations against Hector Delgado on June 6 when a man filed a complaint against the police veteran.

The man told police he had been driving along Main Street in Norwalk around 8:40 a.m. that day. He said he accelerated and did not allow a pickup truck to turn in front of him from a nearby parking lot, the affidavit said.

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In response, the pickup driver began “blowing his horn”; the man said he responded by giving a hand signal to the pickup driver, Cisero wrote in the affidavit.

After the exchange, the pickup driver, who said he recognized the man as Delgado, “exited his vehicle… then took out his phone and took a picture of his car,” Cisero wrote. Delgado was off duty at the time, the affidavit said.

The man told police he began to get out of his car, at which point Delgado allegedly said, “Get out of the car and I will shoot you,” the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, the man drove away, but eventually he and Delgado both got stuck waiting for a passing train. During the stop, Delgado pulled up next to the citizen and told him to “get out of the car,” Cisero wrote in the affidavit.

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The man, who ignored the statement, claims Delgado then followed him closely until he reached his destination at the end of the road.

Video footage obtained by police later confirmed that both Delgado and the man were in the area at the time of the alleged incident, the affidavit said.

In an interview with police, the man who filed the complaint said he knew Delgado because both grew up in South Norwalk, the affidavit said.

The man said in the complaint that he feared for his safety after the alleged incident, adding that he also worried about what Delgado would do with the photos of his car that Delgado had taken, the affidavit said.

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Delgado was placed on administrative leave June 7 after being charged with first-degree menacing, second-degree breach of peace and following too closely with a motor vehicle. It was Delgado’s fourth arrest in his 28-year career with the Norwalk Police Department.

Norwalk Police Chief James Walsh said Delgado’s police powers have been suspended until the end of an investigation led by the department’s Internal Affairs Division.

Delgado was originally scheduled to be arraigned Friday in state Supreme Court, but his case was continued until July 10.

His attorney, John R. Gulash, declined to comment on the allegations, saying it would be “inappropriate” to speak at this time.

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Delgado’s arrest on June 7 was his second arrest in a year. He was last arrested by Bridgeport police in February on charges of stalking and harassment. According to Walsh, the criminal charges against him were dropped in March. The case was dismissed on March 27, Walsh said, meaning a prosecutor opted not to pursue charges.

In 2019, Delgado was charged with driving drunk and crashing on Interstate 95 in Fairfield and was given two preliminary probation programs. The judge then granted him accelerated rehabilitation on the charge of interfering with a police officer and the Alcohol Education Program on the charge of driving under the influence.

A judge also dismissed a charge of illegally carrying a firearm while under the influence after Gulash, who also represented him in that case, argued there was no evidence his client was carrying a firearm at the time of the arrest.

The charges stemmed from an incident earlier that year, when police said Delgado sideswiped a truck on I-95 and fled the scene. It was later found that he had a blood alcohol level of 0.20, or more than twice the legal limit.

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In 2003 he was suspended for three days for incompetence, unbecoming behavior and violation of the rules. In 2011, he was suspended for five days for violating and not adhering to department rules. In 2012 he was suspended for ten days for unbecoming conduct. In 2015, then-Norwalk Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik ordered Delgado to undergo counseling for cases of insubordination and dereliction of duty.

Delgado’s personnel file, that

dates back to 2003 and does not include the 500-day suspension he received after being charged in 1996 with third-degree assault and unlawful restraint. A 28-year-old woman accused Delgado of groping her during a traffic stop in Norwalk, but a jury found her not credible and he was acquitted of the charge.

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