# Meriden building official arrested, placed on leave



## mark handler (Mar 10, 2016)

Meriden building official arrested, placed on leave

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/meriden/meridennews/8564018-129/meriden-building-official-arrested-placed-on-leave.html

Published: March 10, 2016 | Last Modified: March 10, 2016 07:25PM

Record-Journal staff

MERIDEN — City Building Official David Zwick was placed on paid administrative leave Thursday after being arrested Wednesday afternoon in connection with an incident at a city pawn shop.

Personnel Director Caroline Beitman confirmed Zwick was on paid leave. He will have a hearing with Beitman next week, according to City Manager Lawrence J. Kendzior. Kendzior said could not comment further.

“All I know is what other people have told me,” he said.

Zwick, of 365 Main St., Old Saybrook, was charged with breach of peace. Police did not provide details on Thursday. Meriden’s police website shows officers were at JB’s Pawn Shop, 306 W. Main St., from 3:31 to 4:35 p.m. Wednesday for “disturbances.”

Zwick was involved in an incident with a worker at the pawn shop, according to Frank Brevetti, whose parents own the business. Brevetti, who works there, said Zwick “made a scene” in the store while issuing a stop work order.

“I was basically publicly humiliated,” Brevetti said, stating there were customers in the store and people working inside.

The stop work order stems from an addition being constructed at the pawn shop, according to City Planner Robert Seale. The city approved a building permit last month for alterations expected to cost $13,000. Seale said work being done exceeds the scope of the permit. The owners are in the process of getting permitted to build the addition. As a result, a stop work order was issued.

Seale said he could not comment further.

Zwick was hired in 2014 and has no prior history of discipline, Beitman said.


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## cda (Mar 10, 2016)

One reason I do not carry a clip board, would be arrested for forced compliance, clip board to head.


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## steveray (Mar 11, 2016)

Dave is a pretty smart guy from what I have heard, don't know him personally, this is kind of surprising, I don't know that making a scene or even humiliating someone is a basis for arrest, but in this PC world, who knows. Not that I feel I ever need to yell and scream (if that is what happened) but this would be one more area where the police would be overreaching IMO...


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## mtlogcabin (Mar 11, 2016)

Every pawn shop i have been in is full of security cameras. Might not hear the words spoken but you should be able to read the body language and watch the actions.


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## cda (Mar 11, 2016)

Looks a little high end?

Maybe the Mayor's brother in law runs it??

http://jbspawnshop.com/home/375015


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## cda (Mar 11, 2016)

not sure if this showed up on this site, or heard it from somewhere else::

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/merid...ing-issue.html

Looks like David enforces the code:::

If you put his name in the newspaper search, appears he is trying to get things done in the city!!


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## JBI (Mar 11, 2016)

> not sure if this showed up on this site, or heard it from somewhere else::http://www.myrecordjournal.com/merid...ing-issue.html
> 
> Looks like David enforces the code:::
> 
> If you put his name in the newspaper search, appears he is trying to get things done in the city!!


And another elected official oversteps without getting all the requisite information... All to familiar a story. :suspicion:


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## Msradell (Mar 11, 2016)

If you look at the webpage for the Pawn Shop it says that it is Connecticut's only female owned pawn shop. I wonder if that contributes to some of the problems because the owners feel a sense of entitlement?


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## conarb (Mar 12, 2016)

> If you look at the webpage for the Pawn Shop it says that it is Connecticut's only female owned pawn shop. I wonder if that contributes to some of the problems because the owners feel a sense of entitlement?


Msradell:

I find it interesting that you see what the entitlements given to one suspect class, namely women, have done to the class members, but you don't seem to see what the entitlements to another suspect class, namely the handicapped, have done to them.

Johnson's unconstitutional Civil Rights law has destroyed this country, it's supposed to end in another 12 years but the damage will never be overcome.  Justice Brennen stated that it was constitutional because of a compelling interest in ending racism, but what do women and the handicapped have to do with racism?  As I've said before ground zero in this fight is our educational system, and the Supreme Court is addressing the issue again this term in a case our of Texas, that's why Justice Scalia's replacement is so important.


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## Francis Vineyard (Mar 14, 2016)

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/merid...lphone-at.html

_Published: March 11, 2016_ | _Last Modified: March 11, 2016 08:00PM_

By Lauren Sievert Record-Journal staff

MERIDEN — A struggle between city building official David Zwick and a pawn shop employee after Zwick reportedly grabbed a cellphone out of the employee’s hand led to Zwick’s arrest this week, according to police. Zwick has been placed on paid administrative leave and will face a disciplinary hearing next week.

Zwick, of 365 Main St., Old Saybrook, was charged on Wednesday with breach of peace and placed on leave the following day.

Police released details of the incident on Friday. An officer was flagged down by a person in front of JB’s Pawn Shop, 306 W. Main St., Wednesday at about 3:30 p.m. The officer could see two people struggling with one another, said police spokesman Sgt. Chris Fry.

Zwick was at the pawn shop to issue a stop work order because the owners did not have a permit for an expansion, but construction had started, according to a stop worker order.

“On March 9, 2016, it was found that construction had been performed, demolition and concrete had been installed, and that such work at been performed...” it read in part.

While Zwick was issuing the order, Frank Brevetti, whose parents own the shop, began recording Zwick on his cellphone. Zwick then took the cellphone from Brevetti and put it in his own vehicle, Fry said.

Brevetti went to retrieve the phone and a struggle between the two ensued, Fry said. The men were separated by bystanders. Hunter’s Ambulance responded after Brevetti complained of back pain.

“I went to basically speak to him and he made a scene in my store in front of all of my customers,” Brevetti said. “We went outside and he wound up taking my cell phone and threw it (in the truck). I went to go get it and he came up from behind...”

Brevetti said Zwick did not introduce himself and was confrontational.

“I was trying to voice how unprofessional they had been to me and how unreasonable they had been to me,” he said.

Zwick was released on a promise to appear and is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on March 23.

The pawn shop was issued a permit Jan. 26 for $13,000 worth of work that included installing roof trusses. A permit for $15,000 worth of work to construct a three-car garage is pending, according to the city’s building department. The permit was applied for Nov. 2, 2015.


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## cda (Mar 14, 2016)

There is always four sides to a story!!

Court will decide.

But you do not take someone else's property


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## ICE (Mar 14, 2016)

> The pawn shop was issued a permit Jan. 26 for $13,000 worth of work that included installing roof trusses. A permit for $15,000 worth of work to construct a three-car garage is pending, according to the city’s building department. The permit was applied for Nov. 2, 2015


Somebody is working too cheap.


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## steveray (Mar 14, 2016)

> Somebody is working too cheap.


They got all of the materials on pawn....


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## mark handler (Mar 14, 2016)

> Somebody is working too cheap.


They always lowball to the Building Department to get reduced fees.


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## Pcinspector1 (Mar 14, 2016)

> They always lowball to the Building Department to get reduced fees.


True

It's amazing how the figures are rounded and lower than the materials I buy at the depot. Rule to thumb, I'd estimate a deck at $12.50 per sf when I was building trac houses 15 years ago.

The figures I see on decks at the codes department average out about $8.50 per sf. Treated lumber must be getting cheaper? Composite pricing a bit higher.


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