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Main Page Officer is acquitted of OUI
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Posted by: 48Weeks

LOCAL NEWS

Fired cop cleared of drunken driving charges; Lawyer for Quincy officer demands that city rehire him

By CHRISTOPHER WALKER
The Patriot Ledger

For the second time in six months, a Quincy police officer fired for allegedly driving drunk while off duty was cleared of criminal charges and will now fight to get his job back.

A judge found ex-Quincy officer Timothy Kaes not guilty of drunken driving and related charges yesterday after a one-day trial in Dedham District Court.

The officer’s lawyer demanded an apology from Chief Robert Crowley.

‘‘This case was directed from the back room of the Quincy Police Department by Chief Crowley, and he should be ashamed of it,’’ said the lawyer, Richard Bardi. ‘‘To Chief Crowley I say this: ‘Shame on you, and you owe Officer Kaes and his entire family an apology.’’’

Crowley yesterday stood by the city’s handling of the matter, although he refused to respond directly to the sharp comments of Kaes’ lawyer and similar criticism from officials in the patrolmen’s union.

‘‘We absolutely made the correct decision,’’ Crowley said. ‘‘I will do what I think is best for the city and the department first - and that’s what I did in this case.’’

Mayor William Phelan’s office refused to comment, and other police and city officials declined to talk about the case.

The charges stemmed from an early-morning accident in September 2004 in which Kaes’ car crashed into the garage of a Wollaston house after side-swiping a sign, a fire hydrant and another car. Kaes walked away from the accident with minor injuries, but was given written citations for a string of infractions, including drunken driving, while being treated later that morning at Quincy Medical Center.

A clerk magistrate originally refused to file criminal charges against Kaes, citing a lack of evidence. Crowley made the rare move of asking Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating’s office to appeal that ruling to a judge, who later agreed to file criminal charges.

Mayor William Phelan fired Kaes last May after a disciplinary hearing and a recommendation from Crowley and the city lawyer who oversaw the proceedings.

At the time, sources close to the investigation asserted that the in-house proceedings weren’t bound by the same rules as criminal cases, acknowledging that the legal outcome might ultimately differ from the city’s decision. Officials also noted at the time that Kaes’ involvement in a previous incident involving off-duty officers and drinking was a factor in his firing.

The not guilty verdict follows a December ruling by a South Boston District Court judge clearing rookie officer Siobhan O’Connor of drunken driving charges.

O’Connor was fired last year shortly after an incident in which State Police claimed she led them on a 100-mph chase on the Southeast Expressway before crashing into a van on a highway off-ramp.

She was found not guilty of drunken driving charges, and is now in the beginning stages of a legal fight to get her job back. While the city quickly fired O’Connor, citing a one-year probationary period, Quincy Police Patrol Officers Association President Bruce Tait said she has the ‘‘100 percent support’’ from the union.

Kaes is scheduled for an arbitration hearing on his firing later this month, with his lawyer suggesting that the city should voluntarily offer his job back following yesterday’s verdict. Bardi said no decision has been made on whether Kaes plans to seek any further legal action beyond trying to get his job back.

‘‘This was a witch hunt from the beginning,’’ said Tait, the union president. ‘‘This verdict is only the first step to right a horrible wrong done to an innocent person.’’

Posted by: Sgt Jack

From reading the Qppoa Blog Spot their Chief sounds like a real piece of work.check out their blogspot..Let's see if Delta chims in
http://www.qppoa.com/blogspot.html

Posted by: Delta784

I predict this officer will be back on the force by the end of the summer, with back-pay, and perhaps a nice settlement check for his troubles. He was the victim of a witch hunt, pure & simple.

Posted by: Mitpo62

Administrators and politicians with hidden agendas? I find THAT hard to believe!

Posted by: GD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mitpo62

Administrators and politicians with hidden agendas? I find THAT hard to believe!

He should have stayed a Sergeant!! Even then he was an a@@!!

Posted by: USMCTrooper

Quote:

The charges stemmed from an early-morning accident in September 2004 in which Kaes’ car crashed into the garage of a Wollaston house after side-swiping a sign, a fire hydrant and another car. Kaes walked away from the accident with minor injuries, but was given written citations for a string of infractions, including drunken driving, while being treated later that morning at Quincy Medical Center.

I know nothing of this so I have to ask Delta the obvious question.....if he wasn't drinking then how did this happen or didn't it?

Posted by: Delta784

Quote:

Originally Posted by USMCTrooper

I know nothing of this so I have to ask Delta the obvious question.....if he wasn't drinking then how did this happen or didn't it?

That night was pea-soup fog, with very slick roadways. The officer instinctively swerved to avoid a coyote (yes, a coyote) that ran in front of him. He lost control of the vehicle, and a crash resulted.

The Reader's Digest version is that none of the police officers on-scene (including a sergeant and a lieutenant) believed the officer was intoxicated, but the chief of police ordered him charged with OUI over the phone. You read that correctly, over the phone. The chief never went to the scene, never made any observations of the officer, ignored the opinions of his supervisors, and ordered him charged.

To go from the surreal to the ridiculous, a clerk-magistrate heard the case, and not only did he find no probable cause, the case was such a farce that the clerk actually apoligized to the officer. That wasn't good enough for the chief, who took the unprecedented step of having the district attorney appeal the clerk's hearing. I say unprecedented, because as far was we know, that's NEVER been done before by our department.

It's unfortunate that we not only have to worry about being set-up by the bad guys, but by our chief as well.

Posted by: Clouseau

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delta784

but the chief of police ordered him charged with OUI over the phone. You read that correctly, over the phone. The chief never went to the scene, never made any observations of the officer, ignored the opinions of his supervisors, and ordered him charged.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delta784

It's unfortunate that we not only have to worry about being set-up by the bad guys, but by our chief as well.

Delta, you're either president of the union, nuts, or have balls that clank!

Posted by: kwflatbed

Delta has the balls to stand up, say it, and put it in print.

The chief is a complete a$$hole!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Delta784

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clouseau

Delta, you're either president of the union, nuts, or have balls that clank!

The first one is correct, I've heard lots of speculation about the other two.

Posted by: PBC FL Cop

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delta784

none of the police officers on-scene (including a sergeant and a lieutenant) believed the officer was intoxicated, but the chief of police ordered him charged with OUI over the phone. You read that correctly, over the phone. The chief never went to the scene, never made any observations of the officer, ignored the opinions of his supervisors, and ordered him charged.

Thats sad, but how did the chief even know the incident occurred??

Posted by: Mitpo62

Quote:

Originally Posted by GD

He should have stayed a Sergeant!! Even then he was an a@@!!

Posted by: Delta784

Quote:

Originally Posted by PBC FL Cop

Thats sad, but how did the chief even know the incident occurred??

He put out a special order that if any officer is involved in a vehicle crash while off-duty in Quincy, he is to be notified immediately.

Micromanage much??

Posted by: PBC FL Cop

Your chief needs to get a life, a girlfriend or at least find "Whitey", maybe then he'll start letting his cops do their job. Micromanager is an understatement!!

Good luck!!

Posted by: Patriot

Not knowing anything more on this matter aside from that brief article, I find myself asking a few questions...

What evidence was the OUI charge based on? Was an FST administered, or offered? Was a BT conducted, or refused? It sounds as though citations were issued but no arrest was made on scene?

The article is too vague on any details that are needed to form an educated opinion on this matter.

Posted by: Delta784

Quote: