Melrose Park police brass faced with disciplining cop relatives

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Officer Giovanni Castellan. | Melrose Park Police Department

Melrose Park Police Director Sam C. Pitassi and Deputy Police Chief Michael Castellan have much in common beyond having worked for the west suburban police department for decades.

They’re both loyal allies of Ron Serpico, Melrose Park’s longtime mayor and political boss. They both have family members working for the police department. And two of those cop relatives have gotten into trouble this year, which has tested the department’s disciplinary system.

Pitassi’s 28-year-old son Sam J. Pitassi, a police investigator, accidentally fired his gun while in a bathroom stall during a break from a training session in Skokie in the spring, records show — then, months later, accidentally crashed his squad car into another vehicle.

Castellan’s 35-year-old nephew Officer Giovanni Castellan was cited for disorderly conduct in Oak Brook, accused, while off-duty, of driving his car at a female pedestrian whose family had been involved in neighbor “disputes” with his family over “a driveway easement,” according to police records.

The woman had been walking along the road in August when the younger Castellan, driving his Buick sport-utility vehicle, barreled “toward her, holding the horn down, before swerving back to the right side of the road,” according to Oak Brook police records.

Giovanni Castellan told authorities it was a “misunderstanding,” according to the records, which also indicate he was living in Oak Brook despite the residency rule that requires village employees to live in Melrose Park.

If found guilty of disorderly conduct, Castellan could face a fine of $100 to $750.

According to Melrose Park village spokesman Gary Mack, Giovanni Castellan reported the incident to an immediate supervisor who didn’t view it as serious enough to pass along to the elder Pitassi. But Mack said the department now plans to keep tabs on the case.

Reached by phone, Giovanni Castellan told a reporter he’d have to call back because he was on duty but didn’t.

Melrose Park police Investigator Sam J. Pitassi, son of the police chief. | Melrose Park Police Department

Melrose Park police Investigator Sam J. Pitassi, son of the police chief. | Melrose Park Police Department

Pitassi sent his father a memo following his accident, in which his squad car rear-ended another vehicle on North Avenue, records show. He wrote, “In no way is anyone responsible for my actions and I will not make the same mistake in the future.”

But a Melrose Park sergeant investigating the accident, in which no one was seriously hurt, initially blamed another driver — in a “third-party vehicle” — even though rear-end collisions are almost always blamed on the striking vehicle.

“After speaking with both drivers of vehicles, I determined that third-party vehicle not on scene caused accident to occur,” the sergeant wrote in a police report.

The police department, in a written statement, explained that conclusion by saying, “Any colleague is likely to look at a situation through the eyes of his/her profession.”

The department said the elder Pitassi “properly recuses himself from any and all matters related to Jr.,” though a memo dated Aug. 28, five days after the crash, says Michael Castellan and the older Pitassi “determined” that the younger Pitassi was “negligent in the operation of a squad car” and had him forfeit two vacation days as punishment.

Melrose Park’s policy is that cops are tested for drugs and alcohol immediately after collisions, but officials say the younger Pitassi wasn’t tested until the following day.

“Yes, a mistake was made,” according to the written statement. “Policy indicates he should have been tested immediately. He was not until the next day. There was not clarity of this by the investigating commander. A test center was closed, but he did not know he could/should have used the after-hours facility. Proper procedures have since been explained to him.”

Officials said there was no favoritism regarding the way they handled the collision and the accidental gun discharge, saying the younger Pitassi is actually held to a “higher standard.”

The gun incident involving the younger Pitassi happened in May. Entering a bathroom stall during a break in training, he removed his service weapon, placing it atop the toilet-paper dispenser, records show. While trying to re-holster the weapon later, it went off, with a bullet hitting the tile floor.

Officials blamed the accidental discharge in part on his handling of the weapon and also on a “faulty” firing pin.

No one was hurt. The younger Pitassi had to forfeit another two vacation days, though if he was “able to successfully complete . . . alternative education based classes before the end of 2017 . . . the vacation days may be reinstated,” according to a disciplinary letter.

Reached by phone, he said, “I have no comment on anything, sir, thank you very much.”

Police in Skokie marked evidence after Sam J. Pitassi’s gun accidentally discharged. | Skokie Police Department

Police in Skokie marked evidence after Sam J. Pitassi’s gun accidentally discharged. | Skokie Police Department

Related stories:

• Melrose Park cops misfire by raffling off dangerous weapon, Sept. 18, 2017

• On duty, in uniform, suburban cops raffled off assault rifle, Sept. 15, 2017

• Melrose Park mayor OK with deputy police chief’s moonlighting, March 18, 2017


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