Conn. court turns down B.J. Alan’s request

The Youngstown-based fireworks distributor asked for a temporary injunction.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Hartford Superior Court judge on Thursday rejected a pyrotechnics distributor’s request to force state police to release fireworks and sparklers confiscated in recent raids.

Judge Nina Elgo ruled against Youngstown, Ohio-based B.J. Alan Co., saying that state law authorizes the regulation and control of fireworks.

State troopers confiscated fireworks and sprinklers from at least five roadside locations last weekend, saying they were illegal.

B.J. Alan Co. argued that the General Assembly erred when it set regulations on the pyrotechnic mixture allowed in sparklers sold in the state. It asked the judge for a temporary injunction that would have forced troopers to return about $120,000 worth of fireworks and sparklers in time to be sold for Independence Day celebrations.

Proloy K. Das, a lawyer for the B.J. Alan Co., told Elgo that the police confiscation was an “unconstitutional taking,” and that the seizure was invalid because the items were taken without a warrant and other legal procedures.

Das also said Connecticut officials have made it impossible for B.J. Alan Co. to sell the fireworks in other states.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who argued the state’s case, said the company blatantly violated state laws enacted to protect public safety.

State police had a “basis and obligation to act as they did,” he said.

Under Connecticut law, sparklers are illegal if they contain more than 100 grams of pyrotechnic mixture and if it’s explosive or projects into the air.