Police scuffle just the latest controversy to dog Dracut
By Shawn on Nov 17, 2009 in Articles
DRACUT — The chairman of the Board of Selectmen is questioning why police union officials waited more than a month to accuse Deputy Chief Dave Chartrand of being intoxicated when he responded to a late-September domestic incident while off duty.
Selectmen Chairman George Malliaros said he suspects police union officials waited until now to make the allegations in an attempt to distract the public as the Dracut police chief prepares to release the findings of a long-running investigation into who stole $80,000 worth of marijuana from a locked police-evidence storage trailer more than six years ago.
The allegations against the Police Department’s second-in-command seem to be just the latest in a series of controversies in Dracut in recent months.
In just the past month, selectmen and Dracut Housing Authority officials waged a war of words over the Louisburg Square project, a failed proposal to provide affordable housing for the elderly at 1475 Mammoth Road.
Then, Superintendent of Schools W. Spencer Mullin abruptly announced he’s retiring just as the School Department was dealing with a blow to the budget and officials were in the middle of contending with allegations that Dracut High Vice Principal Hank Golec misused school video-surveillance equipment in an attempt to prove a coaching rival was breaking high-school sporting rules. (It was later proved the coach wasn’t doing anything illegal.)
The internal investigation into the missing drugs is
expected to be completed by mid-December, according to investigator Alfred Donovan, control chief for the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council’s Internal Affairs Unit.
Malliaros is suspicious about the timing of the accusations.
“This is, to me, clearly timed to sort of confront what might be a grim reality for some members of the Police Department,” said Malliaros, citing the long history of acrimony between union leaders and top brass at the Police Department.
Chief Kevin Richardson opened a preliminary inquiry last week after New England Police Benevolent Association leader Jerry Flynn sent a letter to Town Manager Dennis Piendak accusing Chartrand of being too drunk to hear police officers’ commands to drop an unloaded shotgun, and later trying to cover up his own involvement in the incident.
On Sept. 26, Chartrand, who was off duty, had been at a block party on B Street for about 90 minutes when someone told him about a nearby domestic situation involving a man with a gun about 10:15 p.m.
When Chartrand arrived at the home, just before on-duty officers, the victim’s friends had already allegedly disarmed the boyfriend, pinned him to the ground and put the single-barrel shotgun in a closet, according to reports and police witness statements obtained by The Sun.
Chartrand took the unloaded shotgun from the house for safety reasons and was walking down the unlit street carrying it when two on-duty Dracut officers came upon him and almost shot him before they recognized him on the dark street, according to officials.
As with the past recent controversies, Malliaros said the latest police inquiry could spur disagreements among selectmen and other political players in town.
“I think there will probably be divisions on the Board of Selectmen about this stuff,” Malliaros said.
Despite the tense exchanges between local politicians lately, Piendak is confident Dracut leaders can still work together on the upcoming budget challenges in an economic downturn.
“We’ve always worked well with the budget, so I don’t anticipate any problems other than the fiscal climate, which we don’t know about yet,” Piendak said.
Nonetheless, tensions were running high last week after School Committee member Michael McNamara accused his colleague, Bonnie Elie, of making a secret play to put Dracut High School Athletic Director Tim Woods in a full-time position overseeing sports while filling in as vice principal as needed.
In the midst of the board’s many disagreements that night, School Committee member Mike Miles lost his bid to oust Mullin two months earlier than his March retirement date.
“I think we have a very adequate board and there’s some very hard-working people on the board,” Miles said. “But we’re not always going to agree.”
School Committee Chairman Matthew Sheehan has noticed the discussions at meetings have been heated lately, but he expects his colleagues to be able to work together on the long list of challenges facing the School Department this year, including a dwindling budget, a plan being floated to shut down the Parker Avenue School, and the search for a new superintendent.
“I would hope everyone will be able to work together, and when times are tough, everyone’s got to sit down at the same table,” Sheehan said. “There’s a lot of political factions in town, but when push comes to shove, I think everyone can sit down at the same table to break bread and do what’s best for the town, for the townspeople, the taxpayers and the kids.”
Not all the political fights in town have a lasting hint of personal vengeance. After their argument over the athletic-director position ended and last week’s meeting adjourned, School Committee members McNamara and Elie, who are self-described “old friends,” could be seen joking with each other.
And despite the recent spate of disputes, including the contentious fight over the Louisburg Square project, and economic challenges facing the town in the coming year, Malliaros thinks Dracut is doing pretty well financially in comparison to other towns.
“All things considered, things are pretty good in Dracut,” Malliaros said. “Could things be better? Sure, things can only be better. But I think we have a lot to be thankful for, and we’ve weathered the worst of the storm.”
Loading ...
