A sense of deja vu hit police headquarters Wednesday, as another longtime detective has been arrested on corruption charges — and a fight has begun over whether he can retire or whether officials will fire him first.
The detective this time is Clarence Willoughby (at left in photo), a 24-year veteran of the force.
Police arrested him late Wednesday for allegedly pocketing money from the department’s confidential informant fund. Willoughby turned himself in for the arrest at 5 p.m. He was charged with four counts of larceny in second degree, a felony; four counts of forgery in the second degree; and two counts of false statement second degree.
Ortiz said Willoughby pocketed “several thousand dollars” in informant money in four incidents spanning from 2003 to 2007.
Willoughby was released after posting $10,000 bail. He denied the charges through his attorney, at a press conference Wednesday night at attorney Michael Dolan’s office.
Willoughby didn’t speak at the press conference. Dolan (at right in above photo) did. He called the charges “baseless.”
“We’re relieved that he’s going to have an opportunity now to face these charges. We’ve been in the dark as to what exactly has been alleged,” Dolan said.
Willoughby was relaxed at the press conference, laughing with reporters and with supporters such as Newhallville Alderman Charles Blango.
Earlier, at a 7 p.m. press conference at 1 Union Ave., Chief Francisco Ortiz (at left in photo) said an internal affairs investigation discovered that Willoughby misappropriated confidential informant funds and forged official police and public documents.
Ortiz placed Willoughby on unpaid leave and is recommending that the Board of Police Commissioners fire him. The board meets next on Tuesday.
Willoughby, meanwhile, put in papers to retire earlier Wednesday before turning himself in.
Asked why his client put in for retirement if he’s innocent, attorney Dolan replied, “The climate that has been created down at the p.d. has just made the ability to return to the job just not practical right now.”
The ensuing battle over whether the city can fire him mirrors a similar battle that followed the arrests last year of veteran Lt. Billy White and Det. Justen Kasperzyk. The FBI arrested them in a n FBI probe of bribery and theft in the department’s now-disbanded narcotics division.
The Willoughby arrest was unrelated to that ongoing FBI probe. Instead it was part of an ongoing probe by the police department’s internal affairs unit in conjunction with the New Haven State’s Attorney’s office into the detective division’s confidential informant fund.
That probe began in April, according to Ortiz. The department froze the fund; it has been used only once.
The arrest warrants are sealed, which often happens during ongoing investigations.
Willoughby is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 20.