Courant.com
Security firm criticized for leaflets in Cheshire neighborhood
Associated Press
August 18, 2007

CHESHIRE, Conn.

A national alarm company will donate to charity to atone for spreading leaflets in a Cheshire neighborhood in the days after a mother and her two daughters were killed there in a home invasion, officials said.

ADT Security Services Inc. has agreed to donate $1,000 to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, a charity supported by homicide victims Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and her daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela.

They were killed July 23 in a burglary, kidnapping and arson in which Hawke-Petit’s husband, Dr. William Petit, was critically injured.

ADT Security Services acknowledged it distributed its fliers - bearing the title, “A Sign of the Times” - in the Petit family’s neighborhood in the days after the homicides, but said they were never meant to offend.

“Prompted by the tragic attack on the Petit family, the ADT Wallingford office received numerous requests for information from people interested in electronic security systems to help protect themselves and their families from a similar violent attack,” company spokeswoman Ann Lindstrom said Friday.

“ADT was responsive to the inquiries received from the community by providing them with information and risk assessments,” she said. “Members of the community expressed gratitude to ADT for our prompt response, while others were critical of us.”

Connecticut Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr., whose agency received complaints about the leaflets, said many homeowners told him they were offended and believed the timing and contents of the fliers were in poor taste.

“When I heard about ADT leafleting the neighborhood, and saw the flier in question, I was outraged,” Farrell said. “While one cannot say that this advertisement was false, the timing and nature of it was totally inappropriate.”

Two parolees, Joshua Komisarjevsky of Cheshire and Steven Hayes of Winsted, face charges of capital felony, sexual assault and numerous other offenses in the Petit family members’ deaths.

Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty.

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Information from: The Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com

Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press