State police said the First Selectwoman’s request for an officer to give an intoxicated Bridgewater man a ride home wasn’t inappropriate — nor did it result in a lack of police coverage in Oxford.
Last Thursday night First Selectwoman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers, while at the Brookside Inn, asked a police officer to give a man a ride home. Drayton-Rogers told the Valley Indy last week the man had just fallen off a bar stool and that she was afraid he was going to attempt to drive while drunk.
Drayton-Rogers said she did not know the man.
Word of the incident spread among Drayton-Rogers’ political opponents last Friday.
August Palmer, a Republican who previously served as the town’s First Selectman, said Drayton-Rogers’ actions were an abuse of power.
Sgt. Dan Semosky, who supervises law enforcement in Oxford, told the Valley Indy last week he would review what transpired.
When reached for comment Wednesday, Semosky referred questions to Lt. J. Paul Vance, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Public Safety.
“I’m done with it,” Semosky said.
Vance said a written report on the incident had not been filed — but Semosky explained what happened to Troop A Commander Lt. Eddie Bednars.
“The end result is, it did not violate any rules, laws, situations. There was never any endangerment to the people in the community. The town was completely covered by police coverage,” Vance said.
Vance said it appears that the complaints over the incident are motivated by politics.
Vance said the review is now closed. He declined to release the name of the man who was given a ride home.
Drayton-Rogers said Wednesday she stands by her action.
“It was a matter of public safety,” she said. “I feel the comments and support have been overwhelming coming in for me, and stand for themselves, and make me feel that representing this community and stepping up to do the right thing is recognized by Oxford and from outside Oxford.”
Palmer said he stands by his assertion that Drayton-Rogers abused her power.
“I would have been torn apart for that. I’m totally disgusted with the whole thing. I don’t like the way the whole thing is going, it’s horrible,” Palmer said.
The ex-First Selectman again said Drayton-Rogers should have called a cab for the drunk man.
While the town doesn’t have a taxi service, an employee at Valley Cab in Ansonia said Wednesday they cover Oxford and were on duty the night in question.
A message seeking comment was left Wednesday with David Yish, the lone Republican on the Board
I don’t live in oxford but to me it seems like Mr. Palmer is a big cry baby. More people should be like the First Select-woman and do the right thing that just might save a life. If anything Mr. Palmer should look into why Brookside didn’t find he a safe ride home and if they were still serving him.
After reading this VIS article, and other news articles I wonder when MADR’s lips will ever get tired from tooting her own horn, especially when she has nothing to pride herself about. Acting on what you truly believe to be human decency, does not require power plays, or press, but merely empathy and decency.
Good point about Brookside Ramona, however it’s Madame MADR that should be looking into that, not Mr. Palmer. You see the real political ploy here was in MADR seizing this opportunity, at the expense of some inebriated unfortunate I might add, to present herself as some benevolent whose only concern is the safety of the public. As soon as what she did was questioned, her pack came out from under the rocks and crevices to try to make her into a heroine, and claim she was only following her conscience, as any moral upstanding citizen would do. That’s great until you THINK. She was not acting as any of us who do have a moral compass, and exist as average citizens would. She chose instead to put on her Chief of Police badge, and summon an officer to the scene to act as a taxi, and then leak the story to the press in the hope her image might get boost.
Am I glad a drunk was kept off the road?…of course, but most people KNOW you can’t, with good reason, call the police to act as a taxi service. The average citizen would not have encountered the same response after “requesting” the police to come to private property to drive a drunk home(especially when he lived 30, or more minutes away). The average good citizen witnessing the same scenario would, or probably have, without fanfare, taken the keys, called a cab, or a sober relative , or friend, or even drove the the impaired person home themselves having had the same result on public safety.
Although public intoxication may not be a criminal offense in our state, a restaurant/bar can, and should, under the threat of their own liability, if for no moral reason, take action if they suspect a patron has been “over-served”since a private residence, or bar/establishment can be held liable for any, and all criminal offenses resulting in the intoxicated patron, or guest’s actions after leaving the establishment or
residence.
All MADR did was make Brookside look irresponsible, and cause Oxford , once again, to be the laughing stock of the Valley. For those who may try to harp on the same sad note, I repeat I am not taking issue with keeping an intoxicated person off the road! My issue is with the means to that end, and the sad attempt to put political spin on this non-story.
WOW, its amazing that this is actually a political debate. After reading a few articles on this its clear that the only one politicizing or making this a big deal is this Palmer guy. I am not a resident of Oxford, but people saying this is a political thing well it could be, but the question is who brought the story up, from all guesses by the numerous articles is the Palmer guy. He is the only one making this political by even speaking up about it and speaking that it is an abuse of power. Maybe politicians or those who want to be in the power or spot light should step back and think about how idiotic they sound when they say she abused the power by keeping the public safe. Calling the police is probably the smartest thing. No offense a cab driver does not need to take the drunk home if they become belligerent, abusive etc. So there was a possibility that by calling a cab it would be useless and then the man could have just left or became combative. Calling a cop, who has authority to take control of a situation is the smart thing. The officer could have made the decision to call a taxi, arrest the gentleman, follow the taxi, etc. It is any citizens job to step up and do the right thing and do the same thing this select-woman did. Now the question is why did the bar let it get this far. They are the liable ones and they are the ones who should have made this call. Saying the select-woman made them look like fools is like saying because you called the cops on the robber you made the bank look like fools. People are not very intelligent it seems with this whole situation. Its time that politicians focus on the actual REAL issues like jobs, taxes, etc and stop looking for petty things to pick the opposition on!
Very well said, smiley! I think the deep snow is getting to a lot of us here in Oxford…. We need to get out more. This kind of political banter is becoming what we do for ‘sport’! March Madness can’t get here soon enough! Go UCONN!
Rachel,
I am a supporter of the first selectman and anyone else in town who does the right thing. I have not come out from any rock and how dare you comment about people you don’t even know. There are many people in town who try and do what is best for Oxford only to have their name dragged down along with their reputations. The first selectman did not call the press. She spoke to them after they were contacted to have a story done. She defended her actions and the firestorm of attacks came. This behavior has to stop. Any one of us would have called the police that night. If not what does that say about our character or morals. I hope someone does look into why Brookside was serving this man while clearly intoxicated. This was not a decision based upon political belief, but one of moral character and respect for this gentleman and the many other people he may have come in contact with. Please lets change how nasty we are about things in town. Can we please move out and channel some energy into making our town one we can be proud of. Lets bring back a caring community and leave politics out of every issue.