Widow of slain Bristol police officer moved by support from hometown

NORTH HAVEN — Jim Piscitelli arrived with his daughter Laura DeMonte to meet North Haven football coach Tony Sagnella about the 17th annual Spring Brawl charity game on June 9.

“Congratulations on the state championship,” Piscitelli said. “I played here. That was really nice for the town.”

“When did you play?” Sagnella asked.

“Late seventies, ’80, ’81,” Piscitelli answered.

“We must have played against each other,” said Sagnella, who went on from Hamden High to play for Rutgers and in the NFL.

The two began to reminisce and Sagnella went onto his computer to comb through photos more than four decades old. There they were. Hulking over a pile of players is No. 68 in white (Sagnella) and peeking out from the ground at Vanacore Field is No. 72 (Piscitelli).

“We couldn’t believe coach actually had a picture with both of them in it,” Laura said Tuesday night. “Pretty cool.”

Very cool. And not as cool as one of Jim Piscitelli’s granddaughter, who will be three months old next week.

Penelope Dustin-Ann DeMonte was born on March 6, five months after Bristol lieutenant Dustin DeMonte and sergeant Alex Hamzy answered what they thought was a routine domestic violence call. Instead,

it was an ambush and a hail of 80 bullets from an AR-15 rifle.

Penelope’s dad and the love of Laura’s life was 35 when he died the night of Oct. 12.

The outpouring of emotion from around the state, from everywhere began with a memorial service for the two men that drew thousands to Rentschler Field in East Hartford. In an emotional address, Lauren called them “true heroes” that day and “two of the very best humans.”

It was true last October. It was true on the day Laura gave birth so quickly that Penelope arrived in the doctor’s office before they could get to the hospital. It will be true on Penleope’s 10th and 20th birthdays and everyone to follow.

The Spring Brawl hasn’t become a fixture in the North Haven community because of some kind misplaced fanaticism to gain a competitive edge come fall. No, it is about raising support for local families and their children in need. The event has raised upward of $15,000-$20,000 annually. Last year, it benefited Nate Gagne, a 3-year old resident with cystic fibrosis.

This year, the event will benefit Laura DeMonte, a North Haven graduate, and her three children.

“It’s extremely humbling,

touching that the community gets together for something like this for a family in need,” Laura said. “I truly never thought it would be my family, but I’m very grateful that everyone has come together and backed us 100 percent, 110 percent.

“I’ve been a North Haven resident my entire life, my parents, too, born and raised. We’ve always seen how strong the community is, but to be the recipient of that love and support is kind of unbelievable.”

Laura DeMonte’s composure through these eight months has been remarkable.

“She’s a strong woman, a very strong woman,” her dad said. “She takes after her mom. And the community has been awesome.” Penelope?

“A gift,” grandpa said. As everyone awaited the draft of players by the outgoing seniors inside the school cafeteria, there

was Phoebe DeMonte, 4, smart and beautiful dancing around with sparkly shoes. And there Porter was 2½, handsome, squirmy, with lots of ideas, playing with a toy rhino he had left in Sagnella’s office last time.

Penelope was a name Dustin and Phoebe really wanted. Laura liked the name, too, but she didn’t want to commit too soon.

“At 12 weeks, we were having a family day at the beach,” Laura said. “I thought to myself I want to make him happy. I want to make (Phoebe) happy.”

Laura turned around and said, OK, the name is Penelope.

“They both threw up their up their hands in the air like, ‘We won!’ ” Laura said.

In the end, she would be thankful. With everything else in her life, picking a name at the last minute would have been some serious unneeded pressure.

Originally, Dustin and Laura had chosen Ann as a middle name because it carries significant family meaning. After Oct. 12, Laura decided it would be

Dustin-Ann. Perfect.

“I had so many feelings and emotions when she was born,” Laura said. “It was kind of a sign from my husband the baby came really quick. I didn’t have a lot of time to overthink things, which I’m really good at doing. I want to say he was with us the whole time.”

The two had met on Match.com in 2013 and that led to endless jokes. At first, Laura wasn’t sure. She said her mom Ann picked out Dustin. They began to date.

“We really grew on each other,” she said. “We had fun together. Comfort. It felt like home. It felt good.”

They were married in 2015.

When the CIAC eliminated spring practices a few years back, North Haven had to be ultra-careful not to run afoul of state association rules. The answer was found when North Haven Youth Football took over the event, from insurance to equipment. On a purely volunteer basis, three clinics are being run for the youth program this week.

Sagnella likes to joke the only thing he does is flip burgers at the game. It was suggested he might do it with a championship ring on his finger this year. He laughed.

“This really has turned into a town event,” Sagnella said. “Parents, cheerleaders, band, referees. The police and fire department have always supported our program.”

Just let North Haven score another touchdown off its single wing offense, wait for the sirens and you’ll hear the support.

Poignantly, North Haven fire chief Paul Januszewski and North Haven police chief Kevin Glenn will serve as the honorary coaches this year. It gave the two the opportunity to take some playful jabs at each other when they spoke to the players on Tuesday night.

The draft began and Cam Thompson, Brendan Ryan, Adam Pandolfi and Nick Harkins were quickly selected.

“I think my husband (who was a catcher at Middletown High and a Yankees and Dolphins fan) would be all about

this,” Laura said. “He always did those fantasy drafts. And the fact it is fire-police makes it very fun.”

Beyond Laura, Jim and Ann Piscitelli’s two other children Gina and Jim went to North Haven. Sagnella remembers Laura’s grandmother being a secretary at the school when he was hired. Jim and Ann had moved to Florida, but have returned following the tragedy. There are many ties that bind.

“Obviously, this event means a lot to everybody in the community,” Pandolfi said. “The children lost their father. A wife lost her husband. That’s something traumatic they are going through and we wanted to help anyway we could for a family suffering in our community. I’m excited to see some smiles on those kids’ faces.”

North Haven is coming off its first football state championship, a Class MM title over Killingly at Rentschler Field. A place where Pandolfi scored two second half touchdowns to break open a tie at halftime. A place where

DeMonte’s memorial service was held two months earlier.

“The family knows they have everyone’s support,” Ryan said. “Playing this game, shows our support. We’re coming off a great high as a team and I think that will bring attention. We want to raise as much money as possible for them. Everyone in the state knows the DeMonte story. This is something special.”

Every year is an important one, of course, yet this one strikes with greater gravitas.

“North Haven football is a big name right now,” Harkins said. “I definitely think more people will be at the game and I’d like think it will bring more support for the family.”

“Coming off the state championship, I think it gives us a lot of media and community attention,” Thompson said. “I think it’s great to direct that attention toward something deeper and a bigger meaning.”