Axed East Hampton police chief files lawsuit

East Hampton, Conn. (WTNH) - The former East Hampton Police Chief has filed a lawsuit against the town and some members of the Town Council saying they conspired to remove him from his post. 

Matthew Reimondo was dismissed as chief of police back in June. He was told that the Town Council had decided to eliminate the position to save money.

Monday night, there was a huge response where residents packed the town's high school to talk about how the former police chief was fired. Some residents say it was a personal vendetta.

Hours before East Hampton's town hall opened its doors for a special meeting, opinions of Town Manager Jeffrey O'Keefe and his decision to release Police Chief Matthew Reimondo were not hard to come by.

“I hope Reimondo sues the hell out of the town for the town allowing O'Keefe to be here, and O'Keefe on top of it,” said Frank Orton. “I really do. I hope they get their just dues. As far as I am concerned, Reimondo is an innocent man."

In the lawsuit, Reimondo asserts that the Town Manager, Jeffrey O'Keefe, conspired with others on the Town Council to get rid of Reimondo to ensure that the chief could not "initiate or support an investigation of O'Keefe's alleged sexual harassment, gender discrimination, sexual assault and misuse of public funds."

Click here to read the lawsuit

But the suit was not the reason why there was a packed house in the gallery that the venue had to be moved to East Hampton High School.

The important decision was made when residents voted on a revised ordinance that would eliminate the police chief's position and assign the duties over to a lieutenant. Administrative work would fall on the town manager.

"A lieutenant will oversee the day to day operation of a police department," said John Tuttle (D) Vice-Chariman Town Council.

News 8's Jamie Muro: "Then why get rid of a chief then?"
John Tuttle: "As been explained, it's a tremendous savings of money."

Councilman Thomas Corderio's motion to table the vote for 30 days passed.

Meanwhile, News 8’s Jamie Muro tried to talk to O'Keefe about Reimondo's lawsuit.
News 8: “Do you have a comment sir? Anything about the civil suit?”
But O-Keefe gave no comment.

“I feel I was unjustly removed for retaliatory means,” Matthew Reimondo stated. “If we need to go to court to straighten that out, I believe we can stand before a jury, and have a jury decide what happened.

For many taxpayers, the Reimondo drama has played out for far too long.

Alice Stelzer commented, “He's had a very good record here, it just wasn't done right.”