By Patrick Cronin
pcronin@seacoastonline.com
September 02, 2014 4:24 PM
SEABROOK — A grievance filed by
a former police lieutenant, upset that he was demoted in the aftermath of an
investigation into a 2009 alleged police brutality incident, has been denied.
Town Manager Bill Manzi said
Tuesday that officer John Wasson’s demotion from lieutenant to patrolman will
stand after denying the grievance at his level.
Manzi said if Wasson is not
satisfied with the decision he can appeal to the Board of Selectmen or go right
to arbitration.
Wasson met behind closed doors
with Manzi for roughly one hour on Aug. 21, with union representatives arguing
that Wasson was wrongly demoted.
The demotion occurred July 23
after the completion of an independent internal affairs investigation into the
alleged assault of then 19-year-old prisoner Michael Bergeron Jr., of Seabrook,
on Nov. 11, 2009.
Wasson, a department
supervisor, allegedly failed to report the incident to superiors and failed to
look into the matter when asked by the alleged victim’s mother, according to
the investigation conducted by Municipal Resources Inc.
Wasson was one of four officers
disciplined as a result of MRI’s findings. Officers Mark Richardson and Adam
Laurent were terminated, while Officer Keith Dietenhofer was suspended for two
days.
Richardson allegedly slammed
Bergeron, now 23, face-first into the cell block wall after Bergeron was
arrested for driving while intoxicated.
Laurent allegedly pepper
sprayed Bergeron a short time later while Bergeron was on the floor.
The alleged assault first came
to light on Jan. 6 of this year after Bergeron posted station surveillance
video of the incident on YouTube.
Richardson was indicted in
March on one count of simple assault by an on-duty police officer.
Richardson is the only officer
facing criminal charges. He is scheduled for trial in November.
