Sarnac Lake, N.Y.-- One day shy of a year after two Saranac Lake police officers crashed their car on the way home from a training session in Plattsburgh, they and Chief Donald Perryman were suspended without pay. Village officials announced the suspensions Wednesday morning in a statement faxed to news organizations. According to the statement, which did not name the officers, the suspensions are the result of a "lengthy and thorough investigation" into the crash and its aftermath. Essex County District Attorney Julie Garcia is leading her own investigation into the crash and Perryman's handling of it. "I anticipate it will come to fruition soon," she said Wednesday. Saranac Lake tapped Richard DePuy to serve as acting chief. A retired State Police captain, DePuy, 78, has spent two prior stints as Saranac Lake's chief of police and one as Tupper Lake's chief. From 1984 to 1992, he was Saranac Lake's village manager and was in that position when Perryman was hired as a patrolman in 1988. "I will work closely with the eight people that are left," DePuy said Wednesday morning. "They are professionals. They will pull up their boots and get this job done." On Oct. 5 of last year, Sgt. Bruce Nason and Officer Casey Reardon were driving back to Saranac Lake from a training session in Plattsburgh. As they neared the village line on Route 3, Nason, who was behind the wheel, swerved to avoid a deer and collided with the guard rail. Though the crash happened outside village limits, Nason and Reardon, who were not injured, were picked up by fellow Saranac Lake Village Police officers before the State Police, who would normally have jurisdiction, arrived. The two officers were brought back to the police station and were never given sobriety tests. Several months later, Nason would admit to Perryman that he and Reardon had had several drinks over lunch earlier in the day. Last spring, Garcia said, "In my opinion, the case was handled inappropriately." More recently, Perryman, Reardon and Nason testified before a grand jury. Perryman could not be reached for comment Wednesday. This summer, he said: "It appears I've been the focal point of the investigation, and I have no idea why. They're saying that I blocked the investigation, which I didn't." Perryman was suspended once before in 2000 — charged with falsifying records, drinking on the job, threatening two police officers — and filed a lawsuit against the village. Perryman, Nason and Reardon will be given a hearing Oct. 20. The hearing officer will recommend to the village how to proceed. Just before a Village Board executive session, Mayor Tom Michael said "It's very much a challenge." DePuy, who answered the phone Wednesday morning as "Chief DePuy," said he expects to keep that title for at least a month.
Republished with permission of The Press Republican
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