SOUTHOLD, NY — A former Southern “Top DWI Cop” who has long argued he was wrongfully fired saw his long-running civil lawsuit dismissed this week, according to court documents.
According to a decision by Associate Supreme Court Justice James F. Quinn dated January 30, “petitioner failed to meet his burden of proof” and stated that “the termination of his employment was not based on an illegal or improper reason.”
The ruling came after years of litigation: Lake, who was named Suffolk County's “Top Cop” for the number of DWI arrests in May 2016 and was fired a little more than two weeks later, sued Southold Town and said he believed the dismissal was politically motivated.
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Lake, who was hired Nov. 24, 2014, claimed he was “unlawfully fired in retaliation for the arrest of two politically connected individuals in the community,” the decision said.
Lake, who was fired on May 19, 2016, four days before his probation was to expire, is represented by attorney Eric Bressler of Mattituck's Wickham, Bressler and Geasa, PC. His petition was initially denied in 2017 by the New York State Supreme Court. He then filed a lawsuit and sought damages.
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“We are extremely disappointed with the decision and will be appealing,” Bressler told Patch.
In 2020, the Supreme Court upheld Lake's, opening the door for the case to go to trial last fall. The judge dismissed the case after the proceedings.
Former Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell spoke to Patch Monday about the decision: “I am pleased that the matter is closed. Mr. Lake was fired based on job performance alone. As we have stated all along, his allegations were without merit and they had no roots in reality. It's clear the court agreed with us. It's always a difficult but necessary decision by the board to fire an employee. Now everyone has to move on.”
Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 2020 decision by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Second Judicial Department said the videos — which were allegedly the basis for Lake's termination — were released for viewing. in his application, Lake said the Town of Southold had “produced no contemporaneous record to support his claim that he performed poorly as a police officer.”
The city argued Lake was fired for “overzealous” behavior during a traffic stop.
But Lake, according to the report, believes he was fired “in retaliation for his refusal to give special or preferential treatment to two influential community members.
According to Lake's report, the city of Southold “bowed to political pressure” from the Jayport Fire Department, “outraged by Lake's proper arrest” of David J. McKillop, 55, of Aqumbogue, Jayport Assistant Fire Chief who was arrested and charged after he allegedly drove drunk and crashed his fire truck into Southold signs and then fled the scene before being arrested in Mattituck. McKillop pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Lake's original report also said John Helf, Sr., then vice chairman of the Southold Town GOP, was at the scene of a fatal 2015 limousine crash in Cutchogue that left four young women dead. Lake arrested the driver of the pickup, Steve Romeo, and charged him with DWI, police said.
“Apparently, Mr. Helf was well known and friendly with Mr. Romeo, and Mr. Helf attempted to become involved in Lake's investigation, but Lake did not allow such involvement,” Lake's report said. “Mr. Helf is seen in the video recounting the events at the scene. As a result of Mr. Romeo's arrest at the scene, Lake was informed by a former city council member that Mr. Helf had stated at Republican events that Lake would he was losing his job.”
On July 17, 2017, Tim. William G. Ford issued a written decision without a formal hearing,
rejecting Lake's section 78 procedure and stating that “judicial review of a probationary employee's discharge is limited to whether the determination was made in bad faith or for other unfair or impermissible reasons.”
Lake failed to meet his burden of proof, Ford said.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed Ford's decision on December 30, 2020.
A trial began in October and November 2023. The disputed videos were shown during the trial.
“After reviewing both videos, this court was unable to find any evidence of interference with the searches or arrests, and further, in both cases, Officer Lake was directed by his superior officer to conduct the field sobriety tests and was supported in their arrests. two incidents. This is contrary to Lake's arguments,” the ruling said. “Despite Officer Lake's high statistics and awards, this court has not found the necessary evidence” that Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley and/or the Board of Commissioners “made their decision improperly or unlawfully motivated or reason,” the decision added.
The decision added: “In fact, there is more than sufficient evidence that the board, with the advice of Chief Flatley, decided to terminate Lake based on his own observations of his arrests, the number of complaints received and the difference . in a community-based policing style approach. This court had an opportunity to observe the witnesses in this case and made its own determination of credibility or lack of credibility based on those observations. Additionally, this court has had the opportunity to review the videos as well as documentary evidence submitted by both parties and after considering all of them, finds that petitioner has not met the burden of proof and that his termination of employment was not based on illegal or unfair reason. The application is therefore dismissed.”
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