SOUTOHLD, NY — An ex-Southold “Top DWI Cop” who has long maintained that he was wrongfully dismissed saw his long-running civil suit dismissed this week, according to court documents.
According to a decision by Acting Justice of the Supreme Court James F. Quinn dated January 30, “the petitioner failed to meet his burden of proof” and stated that “his termination of employment was not based on an illegal or improper reason.”
Lake’s attorney Eric Bressler did not immediately return a request for comment.
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The decision came after years of litigation: Lake, who was named a Suffolk County “Top Cop” for his number of DWI arrests in May 2016 and was fired just over two weeks later, sued Southold Town and stated he believed the firing was politically motivated.
Lake, who was hired on November 24, 2014, claimed he was “illegally terminated in retaliation for arresting two politically connected individuals in the community,” the decision said.
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Lake, who was fired on May 19, 2016, four days before the end of his probationary period, 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 complaint and sought damages.
In 2020, the Supreme Court upheld Lake’s, opening the door for the case to move to trial last fall. The judge dismissed the case after the conclusion of proceedings.
Former Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell spoke with Patch Monday about the decision: “I am pleased that the matter is now closed. Mr. Lake was dismissed based on job performance only. As we have stated all along, his claims were baseless and not rooted in reality. It’s clear that the court agreed with us. It’s always a difficult but necessary decision of the board to terminate an employee. Now everyone needs to move on.”
Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 2020 decision by the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department stated that video recordings — which were reportedly the basis for Lake’s termination — be released for viewing; in his petition, Lake said that Southold Town had not “produced any contemporaneous records to support its assertion that he had performed poorly as a police officer.”
The town maintained that Lake was fired for “overzealous” behavior during traffic stops.
However, Lake, the petition alleges, believes he was fired “in retaliation for his refusal to give special or preferential treatment to two influential members of the community.
According to Lake’s petition, the Town of Southold “bowed to political pressure” applied by the Jamesport Fire Department, “incensed by the proper arrest of Lake” of David J. McKillop, 55, of Aquebogue, a Jamesport Assistant Fire Chief who was arrested and charged after he allegedly drove drunk and crashed his fire department vehicle into Southold street signs and then fled the scene before being arrested in Mattituck; McKillop pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.
Lake’s initial petition also stated that John Helf, Sr., then vice president of the Southold Town GOP, was at the scene of fatal 2015 limo 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 to and friendly with Mr. Romeo and Mr. Helf attempted to become involved in Lake’s investigation but Lake did not permit such involvement,” Lake’s petition read. “Mr. Helf can be seen in the video memorializing the events at the scene. As a result of the arrest of Mr. Romeo at the scene, Lake was informed by a former town board member that Mr. Helf stated at Republican events that Lake would lose his job.”
On July 17, 2017, Hon. William G. Ford rendered a written decision without a formal hearing,
dismissing Lake’s Article 78 proceeding and stating that’judicial review of the discharge of a probationary employee is limited to whether the determination was made in bad faith or for the other improper or impermissible reasons.”
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Lake failed to sustain his burden of proof, Ford said.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed Ford’s decision on December 30, 2020.
A trial commenced in October and November, 2023; the videos in question were shown during the trial.
“After review of both videos, this court could not find any evidence of interference with the investigations or arrests, and furthermore, in both instances Officer Lake was directed by his superior officer to conduct the field sobriety examinations and was supported in the arrests of these two incidents. This is contrary to Lake’s arguments,” the decision read. “In spite of Officer Lake’s high statistics and awards, this court did not find the requisite evidence” that Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley and/or the Board of Commissioners “made their decision for an improper or illegal motivation or reason,” the decision added.
The decision added: “In fact, there is more than adequate evidence that the board, with the advice of Chief Flatley, made their own determination to terminate Lake based upon their own observations of his arrests, the number of complaints received, and the difference in police styles of a community-based approach. This court had the opportunity to observe the witnesses in this case and made its own determination of credibility or lack of credibility based upon those observations. Furthermore, this court had an opportunity to review the videos as well as documentary evidence submitted by both parties and after reviewing it all, finds that the petitioner failed to meet his burden of proof and that his termination of employment was not based on an illegal or improper reason. Accordingly, the petition is hereby dismissed.”
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