Shaban Arrested in 2019 for Disorderly Conduct in Dispute With Girlfriend. Completed Diversionary Program.

Republican former state Representative John Shaban, seeking to return to the state legislature this fall, was arrested October 19th last year and charged with disorderly conduct at his Redding home. Shaban’s longtime girlfriend was charged with the same misdemeanor in the domestic incident.

Shaban was a member of the legislature in 2016 when he declined to seek re-election in order to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative Jim Himes in Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District. Shaban lost. He sought the Republican nomination for attorney general in 2018 and suffered a landslide defeat by party-endorsed candidate Susan Hatfield.

Asked by Daily Ructions about the October arrest, Shaban said he and his girlfriend arrived at his home at the end of a night out. Shaban believed she had consumed too much alcohol to drive home. The Greenwich lawyer said he took her keys and called for an Uber. His girlfriend, whose name Daily Ructions is not disclosing, called the police. The police arrived, spoke to each adult separately, assessed the situation and charged both with disorderly conduct. Shaban’s girlfriend contacted Daily Ructions Wednesday by text, writing, “[T]he two of us had not really been drinking. John was the designated driver. We had an argument about getting home late that night.”

Both defendants, who have maintained their relationship with each other, were referred to the court’s Office of Family Relations to complete a diversionary program. The matter has remained on the Superior Court docket in Danbury, its disposition delayed to the public health crisis shutdown. Shaban expects both cases will be dismissed later this month.

Shaban will face first term incumbent Democrat Anne Hughes in the race for the 135th House District, which includes Weston, Easton and part of Redding.