Waterbury Fire Captain Was Suspended in Avon Before Police Investigation Began

Waterbury Fire Capt. Michael J. Farrell , according to an affidavit available to the public in Waterbury Superior Court.

Between March 20 and July 30, Farrell collected $19,558 in workers' compensation through Berkley Risk Administrators, according to the affidavit.

Waterbury police charged Farrell, 48, with first-degree larceny and workers' compensation fraud in the amount of more than $2,000 Friday, both felonies, according to the state judicial website.

But prior to that, the suspended Farrell from his volunteer firefighter duties. Through a separate internal investigation initiated by Avon Fire Chief Michael Trick, Avon fire officials determined that Farrell violated "a directive not to respond to calls for service while he was on medical leave from the Waterbury Fire Department," according to the affidavit. While Farrell appealed the suspension, the decision was upheld.

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Farrell first filed injury reports in Waterbury after hurting his back and leg March 16 "while conducting training," according to the affidavit. After going to St. Mary's Occupational Health for treatment on March 20, the doctor "kept Mr. Farrell out of work completely with no light duty," effective March 28, according to the affidavit.

At a follow-up appointment July 18, the doctor gave him a "work status certificate" allowing him to "return to work in a light duty capacity" July 30. However, Leslie Dorsey, a workers' comp claim examiner for Berkley Risk Administrators, did not have record of Farrell being placed on light duty, according to the affidavit.

Avon fire officials put Farrell on medical leave "because of his medical issues as a result of his work-related incident in Waterbury," according to Waterbury Police Lt. Michael Slavin's July 20 interview with Trick. Ken Sedlak, president of the Avon Volunteer Fire Department Board of Directors, previously said that Farrell's leave from Avon began in the spring.

"Trick felt that if Farrell can't perform his duties in the Waterbury Fire Department then he is a liability in Avon, as well," Slavin said in the affidavit.

Slavin began investigating Farrell July 20 after an anonymous letter sent to Waterbury Chief of Staff Joseph Geary notified him that Farrell responded to volunteer firefighter calls in Avon while on disability leave from his duties as Waterbury fire captain, according to the affidavit. The letter also informed Geary that he could find "public record documentation" of Farrell's attendance record and "voice audio tapes of Mr. Farrell's participation" from the Avon fire and police departments.

Farrell's name is on the attendance sheet June 1 listing volunteer firefighters that responded to an afternoon transformer explosion in Avon at the intersection of Sunset Trail and Hillcrest Drive that knocked out the power, according to department records given to Slavin after he obtained a search and seizure warrant on July 24.

June 6 recordings of communication with Avon police and fire dispatch place Farrell at a fire alarm call on Helena Road, the affidavit states. Farrell said his name and fire identification number to the dispatcher on the call. He reported to the dispatcher that "the situation was under control and it was an alarm malfunction," according to the affidavit. He then recommended canceling the call because "he did not have his radio and they could contact him by phone." His name was not on the attendance sheet for that call, Slavin stated in the affidavit.

Doctors also barred Farrell from teaching fire training classes because of his injuries, according to the affidavit. Dorsey told Slavin no one at Berkley gave him permission through his workers' comp agreement to "instruct classes" either, because if he could teach training classes, then he would have been put on light duty in Waterbury, the affidavit said.

Farrell, who is a Connecticut Fire Academy instructor, led training classes at the Avon Volunteer Fire Department on March 31, the Sandy Hook Fire Department on May 6, the West Hartford Fire Department on May 15 and 17, according to the affidavit. The fire academy paid him $18 an hour for nine hours of training on each of those days.

Farrell's attorney, Francis Grady also told Slavin that his client confirmed teaching a four-hour class for the Wolcott Fire School on May 17. He earned $100 for the class.

Grady sent the city of Waterbury a check on Farrell's behalf "to reimburse the city for monies earned while he was on workmen's [sic] compensation," but the city did not accept the money, according to the affidavit.

Farrell has not entered a plea yet and is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 15.

He was not available when Avon Patch called his home phone number, but a message was left with the person who answered the phone. Messages left on Grady's office voicemail have not been returned yet either.

More details will be provided as they become available.

Case Timeline

Editor's Note: If there's something in this article that you think should be corrected or if you have questions or a news tip give Avon Patch Editor Jessie Sawyer a ring at 860-356-6339 or shoot her an e-mail at Jessie.Sawyer@patch.com.