Donald Vaccaro, the CEO of TicketNetwork, made his first court appearance in March after being charged with hurling a racial insult at an Oscars party in Hartford and he is due back in court on Tuesday.
Vaccaro, who is on a leave of absence from his company, was arraigned in Hartford Superior Court on charges including a hate crime, threatening, breach of peace and other crimes. He will be back in court again after his attorney asked the judge for more time to talk to the prosecutor about the case.
Police said the 49-year-old Glastonbury resident is accused of grabbing a woman at an Oscars party and insulting a bouncer with a racial comment. Officers arrested him in the early morning hours of Feb. 27.
Vaccaro is taking an indefinite leave of absence from TicketNetwork and has said he will seek counseling and treatment for alcohol abuse. He said in a statement that the incident was "unfortunate" and didn't reflect his values.
His company also withdrew from its First Five contract from the state, which would have provided TicketNetwork $7.75 million in state assistance.
"Due to the personal incident involving our CEO Don Vaccaro, we feel that it is necessary to respectfully withdraw from the FirstFive program in an earnest attempt at preserving our future relationship with the state," the company said in a statement. "We believe the FirstFive program remains a commendable government initiative that will help Connecticut’s economy grow. We were honored to have been chosen."
Vaccaro was charged with intimidation due to bias in the second degree, threatening in the second degree, breach of peace in the second degree, criminal trespassing and interfering with police.
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"TicketNetwork is a great company with wonderful employees and I do not want my personal actions to impact the company's growth," Vaccaro said. "While I need to work through the legal process first, I hope to publicly discuss this issue more openly in the future. I am seeking personal counseling and treatment for alcohol abuse."
