12/09/1996
ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING
False Alarm Appeal - Dan Newcombe
December 9, 1996 - 9:30 a.m.
Present: Margaret Simmons Finance Director
Bob Surette Assistant City Attorney
Charles Dunn Police Officer
David S. Johnson Police Officer
John Cavaliere Police Officer
Brenda Moses Board Reporter
Also Present: Sylvia Dandurand Appellant
Appellant Exhibits: None
City Exhibits: Exhibit A: Permit Application
Citation #00073
Incident Report #9628660
Citation #00029 Courtesy Warning
Ms. Simmons, representing City Manager Elizabeth Deptula, opened the meeting at
9:46 a.m. After hearing testimony of all parties and reviewing the evidence, a ruling will be
issued within 10 days.
Witnesses were sworn in by Holly Ausanio.
Officer Dunn stated Golden Classics received a courtesy warning on October 19, 1996
for a false alarm. A citation was issued on October 20, 1996 for a false alarm. It was noted
both incidents had been caused by a helium balloon in the showroom which triggered the
motion sensor. The second false alarm citation issued on November 3, 1996 is being
appealed today.
Officer Dunn stated he received a telephone call from Ms. Sylvia Dandurand, the Office
Manager for Golden Classics. She said no Clearwater police officers had responded to the
alarm, therefore she did not want to pay for non-service. In response to Ms. Dandurand’s
claim, Officer Dunn had called the alarm company and verified the alarm had sounded. Officer
Dunn had informed Ms. Dandurand she was welcome to report the non-service to Internal
Affairs if she felt sure no officers had responded to the alarm. Ms. Dandurand had never
mentioned a forced entry in connection with the appeal.
Ms. Dandurand reviewed the City’s exhibits and had no objection to their admission as
evidence.
Officers Johnson and Cavaliere gave testimony. They were dispatched to the scene at
3:59 p.m. and departed at approximately 4:15 p.m. on November 3, 1996. Both officers stated
they parked in front of the building on the sidewalk. They questioned bystanders who said
they had just arrived at the scene. Both officers proceeded to check all the doors and windows
of the building. The business was not open and it was dark inside. Officer Johnson checked
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the west side and front of the building, and Officer Cavaliere checked the east side and back
of the building. The weather was clear with no adverse conditions. Officer Cavaliere noted he
had to step over a large sand mound to reach the back door. He joined Officer Johnson at the
front of the building and tapped on the window to be sure no one was inside. No subscriber
was called to the scene because there was no evidence of forced entry.
Ms. Dandurand stated she and the owner, Mr. Dan Newcombe, were on the second
floor of the building and did not hear the alarm sound. She stated 2 windows upstairs were
open and the door on the west side of the building had been unlocked since 8:00 a.m. At
10:00 a.m. she heard a noise, went downstairs, and noticed the chain to the east parking lot
had been broken. She stated she secured the building at that time. She stated at various
times throughout the day she had heard people talking, had checked the parking lot several
times, and felt she would have noticed the police had they been on the premises. She said
had they checked each door of the building, the officers would have noticed the unlocked door
on the west side. She first became aware the alarm had sounded when her Brink’s Home
Security salesman, Mr. Bill Madison, and his girlfriend arrived at 4:25 p.m. through an unlocked
door on the west side of the building. Mr. Madison called his office to discover whether the
Clearwater Police had reported an intrusion, but none was reported. Ms. Dandurand, Mr.
Madison and his girlfriend later found that the overhead door handle on the west side of the
building had been damaged. The time the damage occurred was unknown. Ms. Dandurand
noted the alarm had sounded in the same zone as the damaged door handle.
Attorney Surette noted that Ms. Dandurand stated the chains were broken at 10:00
a.m. and the alarm sounded at 3:59 p.m. He emphasized the two incidents were unrelated.
He also noted that breaking the chains extending across the parking lot would not have
triggered the alarm.
In response to questions, Ms. Dandurand acknowledged the fact that the broken chain
at 10:00 a.m. occurred 5 hours prior to the time the alarm sounded. She did not know when
the door handle was damaged. She was appealing the false alarm due to the damaged door
handle and broken chain in the parking lot. In response to questions, Ms. Dandurand
acknowledged she had never reported to the Police that the business had been burglarized, or
sustained any damage on November 3, 1996.
Attorney Surette reviewed the false alarm ordinance, Section 5.46 of the Code of
Clearwater, which states that the first activation within a permit year of a false alarm results in
a courtesy warning. The evidence indicates a courtesy warning was submitted on October 19,
1996, and any subsequent activations will result in a false alarm. The damage to the door
handle was not linked to the time of the false alarm, and no police report for the damage was
filed. Officer Johnson has testified he checked the door on the west side of the building and
found it to be secure.
Proceedings were concluded at 10:34 a.m.
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