Crime & Safety

Greenwich Vandalism Charges Not the First Arrest for UConn Professor

According to a report and court records, Professor Gabriel Fenteany has other court cases pending while he is on administrative leave from UConn.

Update: 10:14 a.m. Dec. 4:

The charges Greenwich Police have filed against the University of Connecticut chemistry professor arrested this week in connection with a car vandalism spree, apparently isn’t his first scrape with the law.

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According to The UConn Daily Campus, Gabriel Fenteany, 46, of Vernon, has been arrested twice before on charges related to a domestic dispute, and was sent to the hospital because he had been drinking.

The incidents date back to June 2012 and involve his former wife who obtained an order of protection against Fenteany, according to The Daily Campus. He had been facing charges of violating that protective order and risk of injury to a minor.  Other charges apparently include breach of peace, criminal mischief, interfering with an emergency call, resisting an officer, and third-degree assault for incidents that are being prosecuted in state Superior Court in Rockville.

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According to records on the Connecticut Judicial Branch website, those cases are pending and Fenteany is awaiting disposition, scheduled for March 26, 2014. The website indicates those cases are sealed.

Meanwhile, Fenteany is not teaching at the university or working with The Fenteany Research Group at UConn, which is involved in research of wound healing, cancer and embryonic development. He has worked at UConn since 2006, according to a spokesperson.

“UConn has placed Mr. Fenteany on administrative leave and has prohibited him from campus until University and/or criminal investigations of the allegations have been concluded,” according to a statement from university spokesperson Stephanie Reitz.  “Arrangements are being made to cover his teaching duties and other professional responsibilities.”

 

Original story: 10:42 p.m. Dec. 3:

A University of Connecticut chemistry teacher was charged Monday with peeing in a Greenwich parking lot and then ripping off the sideview mirrors of several high-end cars.

Gabriel Fenteany, 46, of 125 South St., Vernon, allegedly peed in a Lafayette Court parking lot in central Greenwich on Oct. 26 after visiting a friend. He is accused "spitting, kicking and ripping off the sideview mirrors of high-end cars," according to a Greenwich Police report. Fenteany, who is an associate professor at UConn, according to The Hartford Courant, is accused of damaging a 2014 BMW, two 2013 Audis, a 2003 and 2004 Lexus and a 2011 Honda Civic.

According to a Greenwich Police report, Fenteany was arrested by UConn police Dec. 2 and transferred to the custody of Greenwich Police who had obtained an arrest warrant charging him with first-degree criminal mischief, second-degree criminal mischief, fourth-degree criminal mischief and second-degree breach of peace, in connection with the incidents. Following the vandalism spree, police said they were reviewing security videos from neighboring buildings to help identify the suspect.

Fenteany was released on a written promise to appear Dec. 9 in state Superior Court in Stamford.

Editor Paul Petrone contributed to this report.


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