BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A Bridgeport city employee could be in some hot water for a large house party he threw over the weekend. But police blew out the candles on his birthday bash.
Saturday night Trumbull police were called to the residence of Daniel Pizarro, on Huntington Turnpike, after they received word of his 48th birthday party. The employee of Bridgeport's housing code office spoke with FOX61 Monday afternoon as he was loading trash from the party into the bed of his pickup truck.
"Well, it seems like I made a mistake, and you know I want it to get it rectified and I apologize and that’s all I have to say you know about what occurred," Pizarro said.
Pizarro's attorney, Dennis Bradley, confirmed that the City is requiring any city employee, who attended the party, to quarantine before returning to work.
It’s been reported there were roughly 300 people attending the party. On the video Pizarro posted to social media, it's clear that partygoers were packed close together and not wearing masks.
Daniel Pizarro was issued an Infraction for (Executive Order) EO-9B-2b for hosting the gathering, whose numbers indoors exceeded twenty five people.
The governor's office confirms that gatherings at homes are limited to no more than 10 people, indoors or outdoors. And people holding such parties with larger crowds are subject to a $500 fine. Pizarro says he thought only restaurants were subject to such restrictions.
Residents of the neighborhood say Danny has been a great neighbor. One adding he is a man of his word
"I really just want to make that clear that if Danny is saying that he didn’t know, I am going to take him at his word that he didn’t know (about the restrictions," said Benjamin Grant, who lives next door.
Pizarro‘s attorney tells Fox 61 his client, while wrong for holding a party of that size, did require all party guests to provide proof of a negative Covid test before being admitted.
Because of today’s Martin Luther King holiday, Bridgeport city offices were closed, so it’s unclear if Pizarro faces discipline. He was a political appointee of Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim several years ago.
In response to the incident, Connecticut Department of Public Health Spokesperson Maura Fitzgerald released the following statement:
"With limited supplies of vaccines from the federal government each week, high positivity rates throughout the state in the wake of the holidays, and the more highly transmissible UK variant of COVID-19 circulating, it is more important than ever that people continue to mask, social distance, practice good hand hygiene and limit gatherings to the people in your immediate household. While failing to obey the COVID restrictions may result in a hefty fine, the health risk to you and your guests of contracting COVID-19 could have far more serious repercussions."
"Under the Governor's Executive Order 7b, private homeowners, who break the Covid restrictions, can be fined up to $500. The State is still in Phase 2.1 of reopening and the restrictions limit private gatherings to 10 individuals both inside and outside. Under the Order, the fine can be levied by the local health department/district, local police department or by the CT Department of Public Health."