ALFRED — York County has settled a civil suit with a Buxton man who accused two York County Sheriff’s Office deputies of physical detention, kidnapping and illegal arrest in 2011.
The suit filed 11 months ago in U.S. District Court in Portland named the York County Sheriff’s Office, sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Michael Hayes; former sheriff’s deputy William Vachon; and retired Portland police officer Joseph Fagone. He was named because the suit alleged the York County deputies acted on his behalf.
The suit was dismissed by the federal court on June 14 “with prejudice and without costs, subject to the right of any party to move to reinstate the action within one year if the settlement is not consummated,” court documents state.
The county had filed a notice with the court in May stating that a settlement had been reached on monetary terms, which were not disclosed.
Peter Marchesi, the attorney for the York County, did not respond to messages seeking comment on the settlement.
Sheriff William King and David Webbert, who represented the plaintiffs, also declined comment on the case.
Hayes remains a detective with York County Sheriff’s Office. Vachon began working as a detective for the Berwick Police Department in 2016.
The suit stemmed from a disputed $850 charge Fagone’s daughter wanted to have refunded to her following a limousine ride to Gillette Stadium, according to documents in the case. The plaintiffs, referred to as John and Jane Doe in the suit, had provided the limousine service.
The suit alleged that a disagreement over the business transaction led to the man’s illegal arrest and terrorizing by York County sheriff’s officers, as well as the violation of his constitutional rights.
According to the suit, Hayes and Vachon, on behalf of Fagone, went to the Buxton couple’s home on Sept. 1, 2011. When the man said he didn’t know why the officers were there, they replied, “‘You (expletive) with the wrong person,'” the suit said. “They said he had transported a police officer’s daughter and they were there to collect the refund she wanted.”
The man tried to call 911, but the officers “threw him to the floor and tightly handcuffed him,” court documents state. Then they allegedly put him in an unmarked police cruiser, drove a short distance, and “for 45 minutes, they pressured him to refund the $850 charge.”
The suit alleged that Hayes phoned the woman and told her the couple should go to a bank parking lot and hand over the $850. The sheriff’s officers also demanded that the couple sign a form saying no excessive force was used. They were “terrified” and signed the form, the suit said.
Instead of going to the bank, the couple went to the home of the woman’s mother and stayed there for several days.
They called multiple agencies to report the “brutal terrorism,” the suit said, and were eventually forwarded to York County Sheriff William King, who was a major with the department at the time. He said the matter would be handled internally, the court documents state.
“York County never took any appropriate corrective action and instead ratified and approved of the unconstitutional conduct of Hayes and Vachon,” the plaintiffs asserted.
The couple wanted the court “to send a strong message that this is not tolerated in Maine,” Webbert, their attorney, said in a September interview. The couple had requested that all York County officers receive civil rights training and an unspecified amount of money for compensatory and punitive damages.
Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or at:
dmendros@journaltribune.com
Tammy Wells can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 327. or at:
twells@journaltribune.com
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