IRVINGTON, NJ — On Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016, attorney Sheila Ellington, hired by the town to serve as the hearing officer in former police Chief Michael Chase’s first disciplinary hearing case, issued a 32-page decision that found him guilty of violating the state Attorney General Guidelines for the Operation of Police Departments, which Joseph Santiago, the former police director who accused him of in 2012.
“I think (Chase) got a fair hearing,” Irvington Police Det. Sgt. Maurice Gattison, president of Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 29, said Tuesday, March 21. “I said he would be found guilty based on the evidence they had against him. How did he think he could beat tape-recorded discussions?”
This did not stop Chase from filing an appeal of Ellington’s ruling with the Office of Administrative Law eight months ago. On Monday, Dec. 5, he had his first hearing, and on Wednesday, March 15, appeared before Office of Administrative Law Judge Kimberly Moss.
“I’ve filed what’s called a ‘de novo’ appeal,” Chase said Sunday, March 19. “De novo means a fresh look at an old case, but this time, before an actual judge, as opposed to a hearing officer, who was hired by the township. It’s an impartial hearing of my disciplinary hearing case that was ruled on last year.”
Chase said he filed an “appeal on the discharge” of his case that Ellington had made. His next scheduled Office of Administrative Law court dates are April 3 and 12, at 9 a.m.
Requests for comments from Mayor Tony Vauss, Public Safety Director Tracy Bowers, Santiago or township attorney Ramon Rivera about Chase’s appeal were unsuccessful by press time this week. This time around, the township is being represented by the DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick & Cole law firm of Teaneck; attorney Robert Utsey handled the original disciplinary hearing case.
“Everyone is entitled to a hearing by a judge or jury,” said Gattison, who still technically represents Chase; although now retired, the chief was a member of the PBA when he was charged with the 22 departmental policy and procedural violations by Santiago. “And once the verdict is given, there’s no need to cry foul if it doesn’t go your way,” Gattison added.
Last year, Ellington rendered a final decision on all 22 of the charges Santiago filed against Chase, after receiving a report from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office that found him guilty of multiple violations of the state Attorney General Guidelines for the Operation of Police Departments, as a result of a formal complaint having been filed against the then chief by Detective Sgts. Melvin Shamberger and Frank Piwowarczyk.
“The hearing was conducted on various dates throughout 2013, 2014 and 2015,” said Ellington. “Testimony concluded on Sept. 23, 2015.” At the conclusion of the township’s case, a motion was made to dismiss all charges against Chase. “That application was stayed and will now be incorporated into this hearing officer’s Decision and Statement of Reasons,” Ellington stated.
This is based on Ellington’s decision that Chase was guilty of six of eight charges of conduct unbecoming a public employee.
“I find the township has met its burden of proof on violations 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8. I do not find that the township met its burden of proof on violations 6 and 7.”
An investigation into Chase’s behavior as chief led to an Essex County Prosecutor’s Office report being issued on Nov. 28, 2012, that found he had allegedly violated the state Attorney General’s Guidelines for the Operation of Police Departments multiple times. And that report led Santiago to suspend the chief and file the eight departmental charges against him on Dec. 3, 2012, that were later increased by 146 on Dec. 19, 2012, then four more on Dec. 20, 2012, for a total of 158 departmental disciplinary charges for violating Irvington Police Department policy and procedures.
Chase challenged those charges and his suspension, and asked to have a disciplinary hearing on each of the departmental policy and procedural violations Santiago had charged him with in 2012. He specifically asked for the hearings to be open to the public.
Chase and his attorney, Joseph Donahue, as well as Utsey, appeared before Ellington on numerous occasions, beginning in the summer and early fall of 2013, to give evidence and testimony in the case related to Piwowarczyk and Shamberger’s allegations about the chief that ended on Dec. 30, 2015.
The first disciplinary hearings dealt specifically with the 22 charges Santiago accused Chase of, based on Piwowarczyk and Shamberger’s allegation that, in August 2012, Chase ordered them to take his wife’s car, a 2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, to get repairs in another municipality, while on duty. They testified they reported that violation of departmental policy and procedure to Santiago, who advised them they should comply with the order but also report it to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Both Piwowarczyk and Shamberger testified they had followed Santiago’s advice and reported the incident to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, which conducted an investigation that produced a report Santiago then used to charge Chase with 22 violations of departmental policy and procedure.
Both Chase and the township called a number of witnesses to appear before Ellington and give testimony at the hearings. The list of witnesses for and against the Chief included: Santiago, Piwowarczyk, Shamberger, former Mayor Wayne Smith, Capt. Dwayne Mitchell, other Irvington Police Department members, some of the department’s civilian employees and, ultimately, Chase himself.
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