Former Southold cop’s wrongful termination lawsuit heading to judge

A long-running civil lawsuit pitting a former town police officer against the Town of Southold inched closer to resolution last week as both sides presented their final summations in Suffolk County Supreme Court.

Garrett Lake was hired to serve as a Southold Town probationary officer in November 2014 after working for the Southampton Town Police Department. On May 19, 2016, four days before his 18-month probationary period was due to end, he was terminated at a special meeting of the Southold Town Board.

A month later, Mr. Lake and his attorney, Eric Bressler, sued the Town of Southold for wrongful termination and argued he was fired in bad faith due to political pressure. Mr. Lake demanded the Town annul its resolution to fire him, reinstate him in his position as a probationary officer, and issue back pay.

After seven years of legal wrangling, the case finally landed in Suffolk County Supreme Court in Riverhead last month. Over the past few weeks, several Southold Town officials have taken the witness stand during the non-jury trial, including Police Chief Martin Flatley, Supervisor Scott Russell, current Town Board members Jill Doherty and Louisa Evans, and Christopher Talbot, who served one term on the board from 2010 to 2013.  Mr. Lake also testified.

The case revolves around a series of traffic stops conducted by Mr. Lake during his tenure as a probationary officer. The Southold Police Department and the Town Board received multiple complaints about Mr. Lake and were aware of several issues, witnesses testified, including routine stops for minor traffic infractions that escalated into full-blown searches of vehicles and accusations of police harassment.

Police cruiser videos of seven of those traffic stops and field sobriety tests were shown in court. Mr. Bressler stated Chief Flatley had previously viewed the footage and determined that many of Mr. Lake’s arrests were legally problematic, leading to his termination. Mr. Bressler argues that the videos show the arrests were legal, and that Mr. Lake was fired due to political pressure. Jack Shields, the attorney for the Town of Southold, said the town’s decision to fire Mr. Lake was not based on political influence, but solely on Mr. Lake’s job performance. He said Mr. Lake quickly went from being a “self-starter” at the beginning of his probationary period to an “aggressive officer.”

According to Chief Flatley’s testimony, Mr. Lake was also known to make so-called pretext stops, described as pulling over vehicles for minor infractions with the intention of investigating for other, more serious crimes. Mr. Lake would sometimes site the alleged smell of marijuana as a basis for searching a car. Although marijuana use was not legal at the time, Mr. Shields said it was a “controversial” technique that both the Town Board and Chief Flatley weren’t comfortable with. There were also some instances where Mr. Lake’s vehicle experienced a microphone malfunction so that audio was not recorded during his traffic stops, the chief testified.

Awards and complaints

Two weeks before his firing, Mr. Lake stood next to Chief Flatley and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone to accept a “Top DWI Cop” award for making the department’s highest number of drunken-driving arrests in 2015 — a total of 38.

Mr. Shields said the court learned during the trial that the average number of DWI arrests made by the Southold Police Department each year ranges from between two to four to as many as 10 per officer. Chief Flatley testified the significantly high number of DWI arrests by Mr. Lake raised concerns because it was unusual for a probationary officer to make that many in their first year on the job. “That stands out,” Chief Flatley said. Mr. Shield argued it further proved Mr. Lake’s “overly aggressive” policing.

Ms. Doherty testified that she remembered people in the community coming to her about Mr. Lake’s “robust” approach to traffic stops. She also recalled her son being pulled over by Mr. Lake when he was a senior in high school.

She said her son was driving home from tennis practice when Mr. Lake stopped him and searched his car. When Ms. Doherty’s son asked the officer why he was pulled over, Mr. Lake responded, “have a good day,” she testified. Ms. Doherty said she asked her son if he wanted her to find out the reason for the stop and he told her no. She testified she did not pursue further information as to why her son was stopped and simply used it as a “teaching moment.” Her son’s stop was also not conveyed to Chief Flatley, she said. 

Leading up to the firing, Chief Flatley testified he reviewed video footage of several of Mr. Lake’s traffic stops and made note of specific ones he deemed problematic. He met with Mr. Lake multiple times to discuss particular stops and arrests, he said.

Chief Flatley told the court he arranged a training session with Steven Kuehhas, who worked for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office at the time, to go over search and seizure protocols with his officers. He advised Mr. Lake to attend this meeting and the officer did.

In his testimony at the start of the trial, Mr. Lake said the additional training was set up at his request because he felt the department was not up-to-date with certain search and seizure laws. Chief Flatley disputed this claim. Mr. Lake also stated he told Chief Flatley that if he wanted him to stop making DWI arrests, he would.

“My job is to go out there and be proactive — to prevent a fatality before it happens,” Mr. Lake said on the witness stand. “I believe all my arrests are good.”

Chief Flatley first discussed the issue of these complaints at a meeting with the Town Board he was called to attend on April 19, 2016. It was close to the end of Mr. Lake’s probationary period and the board needed to make a decision whether or not to pass a resolution to hire him full-time.

The chief said the town board was reluctant to hire Mr. Lake full-time, but he expressed a desire to continue to retrain the officer and give Mr. Lake the opportunity to alter his behavior, Mr. Shields said. At the time, Chief Flatley said Mr. Lake’s probationary hiring brought the police department to full staff, so he wanted to try to keep him. He told the board he would advise Mr. Lake to make sure he was making solid arrests and to ensure that his microphone was turned on and working properly. The town approved that recommendation and no disciplinary action was taken at that time.

A month later, on May 19, 2016, Chief Flatley returned to an executive session of the Town Board and said Mr. Lake’s behavior had not changed. With the approaching end of Mr. Lake’s probationary period, he recommended the board terminate his position.

“[Mr.Lake] put [the board] in a position where they had no choice,” Mr. Shields said.

High-profile arrests

Mr. Lake claimed he was terminated specifically because of two DWI arrests he made, one of Steven Romeo following a fatal 2015 limousine crash in Cutchogue, and the other of Jamesport Fire Department assistant chief David McKillop in February 2016.

He alleged in court papers that those incidents infuriated local Republican Party officials, who he claimed exercised undue political influence over the Southold Police Department and Town Board.

Videos of the arrests of Mr. Romeo and Mr. McKillop were shown in court. The first video, dated July 18, 2015, showed Mr. Lake performing a field sobriety test on Mr. Romeo, the driver of the pickup truck that struck a limo at the intersection of County Road 48 and Depot Lane, killing four passengers and injuring four others. The families of those victims and the crash survivors reached a settlement in that case earlier this year.

According to Mr. Lake’s testimony, when he arrived at the crash scene, Southold Police Lieutenant James Ginas directed him to locate Mr. Romeo, who had left the area. When Mr. Lake found Mr. Romeo and apprehended him, he testified that he smelled alcohol on his breath. He informed Mr. Ginas and was given the greenlight to perform a field sobriety test on Mr. Romeo. 

John Helf Sr., a member of the Southold Fire Department, was at the scene and observed Mr. Lake performing the test and expressed his disapproval. According to court documents, Mr. Helf was vice-chairman of the Southold Republican Party at the time and allegedly friendly with Mr. Romeo. 

Mr. Lake said Mr. Helf — who was off-camera in the video — had to be pulled away as he tried to interfere with the investigation. Mr. Lake recalled Mr. Helf throwing “f-words” around. 

Mr. Romeo failed the field sobriety test, was arrested and taken to a hospital for evaluation, where his blood alcohol level was found to be in the impaired range of .066%, Mr. Lake said in his testimony. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, served a 90-day license suspension and paid a $500 fine. 

In his testimony, Mr. Talbot discussed an exchange he had with Mr. Helf in the fall of 2015, after the fatal crash but prior to Mr. Lake’s termination. He said he ran into Mr. Helf at a Southold Republican caucus, and asked him how he felt Mr. Lake was doing in his position. He said Mr. Helf replied, “f— him” and referred to Mr. Lake as a “f—ing asshole.” Mr. Talbot said Mr. Helf was known to be “opinionated.” 

Several months after this conversation, Mr. Talbot talked to Mr. Lake at a monthly firehouse dinner and inquired if Mr. Lake was getting any “flak,” to which Mr. Lake replied no, but noted that he was “hearing things.” Mr. Talbot said he mentioned Mr. Helf’s prior comments but Mr. Lake said he wasn’t aware of any issues with Mr. Helf. 

Mr. Shields described the comment as a “fleeting curse word to a non-board member.” He added the Town Board never heard the comment or acted on it. In his sworn testimony, Mr. Talbot did not mention any undercurrents of political pressure, Mr. Shields noted. 

In an affidavit Mr. Talbot submitted in support of Mr. Lake in 2017, however, the former Town Board member stated, “There is no doubt that political pressure was applied” in the officer’s dismissal and alleged that Mr. Russell was “in direct proximity” when Mr. Helf made his comments.

In his summation, Mr. Shields called Mr. Talbot’s 2017 affidavit “flimsy.”

The arrest of Mr. McKillop took place after Greenport’s annual Washington’s Day Parade on February 3, 2016. He was charged with DWI, leaving the scene of motor vehicle accident with property damage, driving with no headlights on after dark and a defective front windshield. 

Mr. McKillop was driving when his vehicle left the roadway and crashed into several road signs at the Tuckers Lane intersection on Main Road in Southold, according to previous reporting. He then left the scene with front end damage to his vehicle and a large hole in his windshield. 

Mr. Lake passed by Mr. McKillop’s vehicle, saw the damage and pulled the fire chief over. Since there was traffic from the parade and they were stopped on a busy roadway, Mr. Lake directed Mr. McKillop to pull into a parking lot nearby the scene. 

As soon as he approached the vehicle Mr. Lake testified Mr. McKillop appeared to be “extremely intoxicated.” The officer said he immediately called his supervisor and when Sergeant Henry Santacroce arrived at the scene he gave Mr. Lake approval to perform a field sobriety test. 

Mr. Lake said he was told by Mr. Santacroce to treat the situation like “any other stop.” He told the court he recalled two other passengers in the car: Mr. McKillop’s son and a Jamesport Fire Department Commissioner, both of whom were angry when the fire chief was arrested. He was charged with misdemeanor drunken driving, but later took a plea deal.

‘An asset to the department’

Mr. Bressler said Mr. Lake followed all the policies and procedures of the Southold Police Department correctly and that his traffic stops and vehicle searches were perfectly legal. He said that during his cross-examination of Chief Flatley, the chief confirmed there is no minimum or maximum number of traffic tickets an officer can issue; the same with DWI arrests.

One piece of evidence Mr. Bressler brought up consistently throughout the trial was the “excellent” written evaluation Mr. Lake’s supervisor, Sergeant Richard Perkins, issued before his termination in March 2016.

On the evaluation form, there are 14 different job factors listed — ranging from an officer’s appearance to his or her judgement and knowledge of the department’s rules and procedures. Mr. Bressler said Mr. Lake received an overall “above standards” rating and was described as “an asset to the department.”

Chief Flatley is responsible for signing off on all written evaluations and approved Mr. Lake’s. In addition, Mr. Lake’s counsel stated all of his supervisors in the Southold Town Police Department were satisfied with his performance. 

“The evidence overwhelmingly shows that [Mr. Lake] was an excellent police officer, he was doing his job and he was protecting the Town of Southold,” Mr. Bressler said in court. “The evaluation speaks for itself.” 

In a conversation with Ms. Doherty before Mr. Lake was terminated, Mr. Talbot said in his testimony he advised her that the town board needed to review Mr. Lake’s employee evaluation before making any decisions. Mr. Russell, Ms. Doherty and Ms. Evans all testified they made their decision to terminate Mr. Lake based solely on Chief Flatley’s recommendation and did not review the written evaluation of Mr. Lake before firing him.  During Mr. Talbot’s testimony, he mentioned a conversation he had with Mr. Russell several months after Mr. Lake was fired, where Mr. Russell called Mr. Lake, “a liability.”

At last Thursday’s hearing, acting Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice James Quinn directed the attorneys for Mr. Lake and Southold Town to submit their summary legal briefs to the court by Dec. 15. Once all documents are in, a decision will be made within 30 days of that date, Justice Quinn said.

Correction: This story has been updated from an earlier version. John Helf, Sr. was member of the Southold Fire Department in July 2015, not a former chief.