RI Deputy Chief Wants Disorderly Conduct Case Sealed

PROVIDENCE — Cranston's deputy fire chief asked last week to seal a case documenting a disorderly conduct charge linked to his dispute with a fellow firefighter in September 2017.

Deputy Chief Paul Valletta Jr., 60, on Dec. 11 entered a not-guilty filing to one count of disorderly conduct, meaning the case will be expunged from the court record if he obeys the law for a year. Two weeks later, Valletta filed a motion seeking to expunge or seal the record.

A hearing on the motion to seal is set for Jan. 17, with Valletta asserting in an affidavit that he had never previously been convicted of a felony and that the case at hand had been disposed of, court records show.

Valletta's lawyer, David E. Revens, did not return a phone call placed to his office Wednesday.

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The state police charged Valletta with simple assault and disorderly conduct (fighting and tumultuous behavior) after the dispute with Lt. Scott Bergantino at the Cranston fire station at 1155 Scituate Ave., at about 2 p.m. Sept. 9, 2017. Valletta, of 177 Gilbert Stuart Drive, in Warwick, was suspended after the incident and returned to duty on Oct. 23, of that year.

District Court Judge Elaine T. Bucci in December 2017 found Valletta, who was then the firefighters union president, guilty of disorderly conduct; she acquitted him of simple assault. Valletta appealed the case to Superior Court.

Bergantino, meanwhile, sued the firefighters union, Valletta and the City of Cranston in U.S. District Court, accusing the city of negligence for failing to properly train supervisors, such as Valletta, in anger and stress control.

According to Bergantino, Valletta punched and slammed him while on duty in September, because the lieutenant had refused to participate in a "Fill the Boot" fundraising campaign to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Bergantino charged that Valletta breached his duties as president of the Cranston Firefighters International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1363, by leaving Bergantino no avenue with which to file a grievance against Valletta.

According to the lawsuit, Bergantino, a firefighter since 1994, was working at the station when Cranston firefighter Michael Burke called on behalf of the union and told the firefighters they had to participate in the "Fill the Boot" fundraising campaign.

The fundraisers are not work and are not sanctioned by the City of Cranston, particularly as the City Council passed an ordinance banning panhandling earlier in the year, the suit says.

Valletta told Bergantino's crew that they should participate in the fundraising drive and criticized Bergantino publicly, the suit says.

Bergantino asked Valletta why he hadn't given him overtime shifts in recent weeks, in keeping with the firefighters' contract and Fire Department procedure and tradition. He asked Valletta to whom he should file a union grievance complaining about Valletta refusing him overtime. Valletta replied "me!" showing contempt for his union duties, according to the suit.

Valletta began yelling at Bergantino; an argument ensued. It's then that Bergantino says Valletta slammed him against a whiteboard, punched him twice in the head and then pushed him over a chair and onto the floor, where he hit his head, the suit says.

Bergantino, whose lawyer Chip Muller could not be immediately reached, is seeking unspecified damages.

Valletta has denied that he committed any "acts" giving rise to any liability to Bergantino. The city and the union have also denied the charges.

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