Hartford police report contradicts former treasurer after accusations of document shredding

HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) - Did Hartford’s former treasurer shred documents on her way out of the job?

She says she didn’t, but a newly released police report says a shredder was found just steps away from her office.

Carmen Sierra was escorted out of her old office building by police, including the chief himself.

She’s denied even having a shredder. And her attorney doubled down Thursday, saying Sierra didn’t shred anything and feels this whole thing is a “charade.”

Hartford Police walked Sierra out of her office at Constitution Plaza last Wednesday. Someone called them, saying Sierra was in her office shredding documents. 6 officers, including the chief, showed up.

Sierra resigned two days before, saying she was leaving to take care of her sick father.

The city is currently conducting an audit of the Treasurer’s Office and Pension Fund which Sierra oversaw. The president of the Internal Audit Commission told me the audit were started after receiving tips about, “alleged possible problems with the income and expenses for that time period and advised us to take a look.”

In a press conference last Friday, Sierra denied doing anything wrong, saying she was coming to return city property and pick up personal items.

According to the police report, detectives saw a shred bin right next to Sierra’s office door. The bin was locked and there was paper seen inside.

Sierra’s attorney Darnell Crosland says that box has always been there.

“We all have these big bins that we contract with shredding companies and have a little lock on them and, and have a little slot. So you put stuff in there that needs to be taken away to be shredded to protect people’s personal information,” says Crosland.

The report notes a room only steps away has a shredder, where they found shreds of paper.

It doesn’t say what the papers were, and according to the report, they could not tell how long the scraps had been there.

“It notes in here that Carmen was cool, calm, collected. She wasn’t frazzled by anything, and she wasn’t even in the shredder room. And so, if there were concerns that something was placed in the bin to be spread later, it’s a small little lock. They could have opened that lock and found out what was in there by now,” Crosland said.

The report’s existence contradicts an earlier statement from police that no incident report existed from the encounter.

Read Crosland’s full statement below.