SALISBURY — Two Essex County correctional officers were suspended without pay yesterday for a total of four months for their roles in a barroom brawl that broke out at a fellow corrections officer's birthday party last month.
According to Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins, Paul Sullivan, 29, of New Hampshire, was suspended for 90 days without pay for conduct unbecoming an officer for his part in the disturbance that drew Salisbury police to the Winner's Circle Sports Bar on Route 110 a few minutes past midnight on Saturday, Jan. 14.
"That's a serious and significant suspension," Cousins said yesterday. "He'll lose $17,755 in salary and have to pay for two months (of his insurance) through COBRA. He can't work at all, can't take on any overtime or detail work."
For her participation in the fight, Sullivan's girlfriend, Katie Barnes, 27, also of New Hampshire, received a 30-day suspension, a loss of $5,721 in salary, for conduct unbecoming an officer for her verbal confrontations that escalated the midnight fight at a birthday party of another Essex County correctional officer.
Both Sullivan and Barnes also will be writing letters of apology to the owners of the Winner's Circle, Cousins added. Cousins' office would not release the home addresses of Sullivan and Barnes.
Cousins said that following notification about the incident by Salisbury interim Police Chief Richard Merrill, the sheriff's department began an internal investigation. Both Sullivan and Barnes were placed on administrative leave, pending the findings of the investigation.
Cousins' Internal Affairs officer retrieved the police reports and interviewed everyone who had been at the party, after which a disciplinary hearing was scheduled for both Sullivan and Barnes. Planned for yesterday, the hearing was canceled when both officers admitted they'd violated the department's rules.
"That's very positive," Cousins said. "They were both very remorseful about their conduct. The good thing about this is that these people accepted responsibility for their actions."
Salisbury officers James Leavitt, Timothy Hunter and Brian Smith responded to the Jan. 14 call from Winner's Circle and got there around about 12:20 a.m., according to their reports. Upon entering the upstairs function room where the party took place, they found a tense and chaotic situation with about 30 to 40 patrons present. The fight had concluded, but police reported a number of people were yelling and posturing aggressively, including Sullivan, who was "screaming profanities" and had to be held back by others, including Barnes.
Leavitt separated Sullivan and Barnes from the others, leading them downstairs, with Hunter following, while he tried to figure out what had taken place.
"I attempted to make sense of what was going on, but the scene was chaotic," Leavitt wrote. "I had several people yelling at me at the same time, telling me different versions of what happened."
According to Leavitt's report, the victim was a 34-year-old man. The fight started after he bumped a woman, who "took it the wrong way."
The woman then swung at him several times and choked him, causing him to lose consciousness for a few seconds. The report states the woman was a corrections officer but doesn't specifically state that it was Barnes.
The man did not want to press charges.
The officers' reports indicate that there may have been more than two people involved, but all claimed innocence, pointing fingers at one another.
Cousins said that his investigation indicated that no other correctional officers were at fault in starting or promoting the fight, but there were others who tried to stop it.
The night of the incident, the victim refused to press charges and refused medical treatment. Sullivan and Barnes left the Winner's Circle, refusing to speak with Salisbury police. They invoked their rights to remain silent and left the scene, according to police reports.
"This type of disorderly and drunken behavior is unacceptable; it violates our rules of what is proper conduct," Cousins said. "Everybody here has a handbook, and everybody signs off on the handbook. Everybody knows what the rules are."
Joplin Remembers Deadly Tornado, 1 Year Later
Serial Stabbings Suspect Guilty of Murder
Facebook Shares Continue Negative Slide
8 Hurt in Oklahoma Shooting After NBA Playoff
US Airways: Diverted Flight Has 'Landed Safely'
A Few Odd Business Sparks but Europe Gloomy
Revived Focus on Regulation After JPMorgan Loss
Gerard Butler: the Good, the Bad and the Cannes
At Least 25 Dead in India Train Collision
Raw Video: Private Rocket Blasts Off
Boy to Rescuers: 'Do You Have a Plan?'
Doctors and Devotees Debate Barefoot Running
Blacks Seek to Find Their Own Missing
Houston Museum Unveils $85 Million Dinosaur Hall
Chicago Police: 90 Arrested in NATO Protests
Ex-Rutgers Student Gets 30 Days in Webcam Case
Obama Sees Inspiration in Joplin Graduates
Raw Video: Man Saved After Niagara Falls Plunge
NATO: Afghan Exit 'Irreversible'
Catholic Groups Sue Over Contraception Mandate
