Bethel First Selectman arrested on harassment charges

Bethel's Republican First Selectman Bob Burke is having a bad day..a REAL bad day.

First, his own party refused to nominate him for a third term. To add salt to the wound, after kicking him the curb, his party trashed him in the newspaper.

And now comes this...

This morning, Burke was arrested and charged with second degree harassment (C.G.S 53a-183). The arrest stemmed from an investigation into a series a harassing phone calls Burke made to an unnamed victim.

According to the State Police criminal information summary, Burke released on a written promise to appear at Danbury Superior Count on September 8th.

...oh yeah, Burke forced a primary for his seat which is scheduled for September 15th...one week after his court appearance.

UPDATE: Here's how the story played out on the networks yesterday...



UPDATE 2: The rabbit hole gets deeper?

Bethel Police Commissioner Nick Ellis, who was elected three and a half years ago, said he was sorry about the arrest but knew it was coming.

"I feel sorry for Bob and his family, but the victim has gone through a lot,'' Ellis said Monday. "I'm sorry it had to happen this way."

Ellis said Burke and the alleged victim had a personal relationship that was private between them and their families, but the issue became public after the individual went to the police department several times.

The alleged victim didn't want to file a complaint initially but finally did last December, Ellis said.

He said the local police did what they were supposed to do, but the state's attorney in Danbury thought the case was too close to home so it was moved to the state police.

UPDATE 3: Bethel GOP to Burke: "Go away"

First Selectman Robert Burke's Republican opponents urged him Monday to shut down his primary plans.

"He should bow out,'' Selectman Paul Szatkowski said. "A wise man would."

[...]

"It's an embarrassment to the entire town and to his family,'' Szatkowski said of the arrest.

Szatkowski said that he, like many people, had heard rumors of Burke's situation for weeks.

"We're a small community,'' Szatkowski said. "Everybody knows everybody.''

"It was probably the most open secret in town," said GOP Town chairman Paul Improta.

Improta said the rumors of Burke's legal problems were among the reasons the town committee decided not to endorse him, instead backing Craybas.

"We didn't want people saying 'You knew about this and you endorsed the guy anyway?' '' Improta related.

Like Szatkowski, Improta said it would be "wise'' for Burke to drop his primary challenge.

"It would be good for the town,'' he said. "We don't need to go through a fight he has no chance of winning. I think he'd be doing himself a favor.''

Here's the police report...