Finizio Demotes New London Fire Union President

The president of the New London firefighters' union will return to duty in the New London Fire Department but has been demoted after being charged with shoplifting earlier this year, Mayor Daryl Finizio announced today.

Rocco Basilica, who had been promoted to a Step 1 lieutenant on Feb. 1, had his rank reduced to Class 6 firefighter. Basilica and his wife were charged with stealing items from the UConn store in June.

“We hold all members of public safety departments to a high standard,” Finizio said. “This action was the appropriate one to ensure that our standards are met and are the same for all members of our fire department.”

Basilica and his wife Jaqueline were arrested on June 25 and charged with sixth-degree larceny. Basilica was accused of taking three key chains, a pair of socks, a plastic cup, and two T-shirts worth a total of $81.93 from the UConn store. Jaqueline was accused of taking a T-shirt worth $24.99.

Finizio said he found out about the arrest on July 22 and discovered that Basilica was going on workers compensation starting on the same day. Finizio suspended Basilica without pay at the recommendation of Fire Chief Henry Kydd and said workers' compensation payments would be determined by the Workers' Compensation Commission.

At their first court appearance on July 9, both Rocco and Jaqueline applied for accelerated rehabilitation. According to Connecticut court records, their cases were referred to Adult Probation with their next court appearance scheduled for Jan. 28.

In a letter from Kydd to Basilica on Friday, Kydd says Basilica must comply with his probation terms and will not be eligible for promotional testing until the completion of his case on Jan. 28. Basilica must also be recertified for any driving assignments.

Basilica, who is president of New London Firefighters Local 1522, joined the department in 1996.