Man notifies East Lyme he plans to sue detective, police over 'false arrest' involving teen girl
Lawyers for Nicholson allege police detective Mark Comeau, who was originally the lead investigator, manufactured the criminal case against Nicholson because Comeau was infatuated with the alleged teenage victim, Claire Killin. It further alleges he later helped her hide evidence when the case was being re-investigated.
The notice of intent to sue was filed Monday by the New London-based Strafaci Law Firm and targets not only Comeau, but the town, the police department and the Board of Police Commissioners. Attorney Joe Strafaci said evidence that will be provided in an upcoming lawsuit will reveal multiple levels of police misconduct and violations of trust."
Nicholson, 35, was arrested in March 2024 and faced 11 criminal charges, including felony kidnapping, for allegedly threatening, stalking and assaulting Killin, who was his former co-worker at Dunkin in East Lyme. Nicholson was held on a $250,000 bond and spent 49 days in jail before his defense attorney, Michael Miller, raised questions about the credibility of the investigation.
In addition to a personal relationship between Comeau and Killin, who used to be neighbors in The Orchards neighborhood in East Lyme, Strafaci said some of the allegations that led to Nicholson's arrest were simply untrue.
Killin on Monday said she continued to be shocked by the allegations of an inappropriate relationship with Comeau and said aside from being neighbors, the relationship was always professional. She focused on her fears of Nicholson.
"There was no personal relationship. He spoke to me as a detective on this case and did his duties as an officer," Killin said. "They're turning it into something it's not."
State prosecutors dropped their prosecution of Nicholson last November.
New London Superior Court Judge John Newson, in court, referred to it as a "troubling case in that certain people did not do their job and honor the trust we should have in them."
The dropped charges led the Board of Police Commissioners to hire an outside investigator to probe the handling of the case. That investigation by the Daigle Law Group, the same law firm investigating East Lyme Police Chief Michael Finkelstein and the circumstances of how the department handled multiple allegations of domestic violence by Finkelstein's wife, is ongoing.
Strafaci said he continues to gather evidence that shows Nicholson was the victim of a "targeted campaign, initiated and perpetrated by Detective Mark Comeau and member(s) of the East Lyme Police Department with the assistance of private parties, including Killin, to falsely arrest and charge him for serious felony crimes..."
Calls and late night visits
In addition to an undisclosed "inappropriate" relationship between Comeau and Killin, Strafaci said there were numerous phone calls between the two and that Killin would also make late night visits to Comeau's home. After Comeau was pulled from the case, Strafaci alleges Comeau instructed Killin to buy a new phone to hide past interactions between the two and hide evidence. East Lyme police confirmed the case was re-assigned to another officer.
Killin, in an interview from her home in the United Kingdom on Monday, said she thinks some of the information about her visits come from a former landlord and are untrue.
"It's completely false — made up. They're trying to make something out of nothing," she said.
Killin also said that her phone was seized and analyzed as part of the investigation. By the time the new detective was assigned to the case, Killin said she had upgraded to a new phone but all of the information from her old phone remained.
Strafaci described Nicholson as a man with cognitive limitations who was vulnerable to being taken advantage of by Killin, who was his friend, and Comeau. Nicholson was buying Killin clothes and paying her bills, Strafaci said. Additionally, Strafaci said Nicholson has experienced gender dysphoria and spent a period of time identifying as a woman.
Strafaci said Comeau went out of his way, when preparing an arrest warrant, to include facts about Nicholson's gender identity seemingly to imply he was a sexual predator. He also made derogatory comments during his arrest, which is the reason, Strafaci said, that the impending lawsuit will focus on "intimidation based on bigotry and bias."
"There's multiple allegations in the arrest warrant that are inconsistent with forensic evidence — that and Comeau's apparent obsession with Stephen's gender identity is just bizarre," Strafaci said.
The motivation for targeting Nicholson was "Claire's desire for money and designer clothes/items and Det. Comeau's infatuation with Claire, as well as his personal animus towards Stephen," the notice alleges.
Killin said Nicholson's gender identity came into play during the investigation because Nicholson had worn some of the women's clothing she purchased using Nicholson's money. Killin said she has evidence that was turned over to police that shows Nicholson threatened her so she would buy certain items that he would then wear.
Strafaci said the purpose of the upcoming lawsuit, in addition to financial reimbursement, is Nicholson's desire to have what he called the "real story" become public.
"Stephen has been the victim of a false arrest, false allegations and because he's faced criminal charges, he's basically been unable to tell his side of the story. Part of this is to bring his story to light and bring about some justice for all of the wrongs that have been done to him over the course of a year, Strafaci said.
New York attorney Christopher Berlingieri, who represents Killin in a federal civil rights lawsuit against Dunkin, declined to comment. East Lyme First Selectman Dan Cunningham and Board of Police Commissioners Chairman Dan Price did not return calls seeking comment. Comeau could not be reached to comment.
g.smith@theday.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
26 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Video shows steel workers scrambling into wreckage left by explosion that killed 2 in Pennsylvania
CLAIRTON, Pa. — After an explosion rocked a steel plant outside Pittsburgh, workers scrambled into the wreckage alongside firefighters. A cloud of black smoke rose above a charred pickup truck as rescuers sprayed the scene with streams of water. By the time the scene was secure, two people were dead and more than 10 others were injured, including one who spent hours trapped in rubble left Monday by the blast that was powerful enough to shake nearby homes. Video from Pittsburgh television station WTAE showed workers in orange jumpsuits and hard hats running toward the wreckage at the U.S. Steel coking plant in Clairton. A reporter described seeing someone being pulled from the debris and loaded onto a gurney. The station's footage later showed a mountain of charred rubble spilling from a hole left by demolished walls. Investigators worked Tuesday to determine the cause of the blast, which jolted a region of the state synonymous with steel for more than a century. Amy Sowers, who was sitting on her porch less than a mile from the plant, felt her house shake. 'I could see smoke from my driveway,' she said. 'We heard ambulances and fire trucks from every direction.' Sowers, 45, grew up in Clairton and has seen several fatal accidents at the plant over the years. 'Lives were lost again,' Sowers said. 'How many more lives are going to have to be lost until something happens?' Company officials were expected to join Gov. Josh Shapiro at a news conference scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. Speaking to reporters Monday, U.S. Steel's chief manufacturing officer, Scott Buckiso, gave no details about the damage or casualties. He said the company, now a subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp., was working with authorities. The Allegheny County Police Department said five people were hospitalized in critical but stable condition Monday night, and five others had been treated and released. Other individuals were treated for injuries at the scene, but the department said it did not have an exact number. The county medical examiner's office identified one of the dead as Timothy Quinn, 39. According to the company, the plant has approximately 1,400 workers. In a statement, the United Steelworkers union, which represents many of the Clairton plant's workers, said it had representatives on the ground at the plant and would work to ensure there is a thorough investigation. David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, an environmental group that has sued U.S. Steel over pollution, called for an independent investigation and a re-evaluation 'as to whether the Clairton plant is fit to keep operating.' It's not the first explosion at the plant. A maintenance worker was killed in a blast in September 2009. In July 2010, another explosion injured 14 employees and six contractors. According to online OSHA records of workplace fatalities, the last death at the plant was in 2014, when a worker was burned and died after falling into a trench. After the 2010 explosion, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined U.S. Steel and a subcontractor $175,000 for safety violations. U.S. Steel appealed its citations and fines, which were later reduced under a settlement agreement. In February, a problem with a battery at the plant led to a 'buildup of combustible material' that ignited, causing an audible boom, officials said. Two workers received first aid treatment but were not seriously injured. Pittsburgh attorney John Gismondi represented the widow of the worker who was killed in the 2009 explosion at the plant and three men who were badly burned in the 2010 explosion. In a phone interview Tuesday, Gismondi said his immediate thought a day earlier was 'Oh my God, not again at Clairton.' Both lawsuits were settled out of court for 'significant' amounts, he said. 'There was no question in both of those cases we established that appropriate safety protocols weren't followed, and that's what led to the explosions,' he said. 'There's a lot of gas on the premises. That's fine, it's part and parcel of what they do. But gas is a dangerous substance, and you need to make sure safety protocols are being followed.' In the 2010 case, Gismondi's clients claimed managers directed them to repair a live gas line even after an alarm went off warning of high levels of natural gas. The plant, a massive industrial facility along the Monongahela River, converts coal to coke, a key component in the steelmaking process. It is considered the largest coking operation in North America and is one of four major U.S. Steel plants in Pennsylvania. To make coke, coal is baked in special ovens for hours at high temperatures to remove impurities that could otherwise weaken steel. The process creates what's known as coke gas — a lethal mix of methane, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The county health department initially told residents within 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) of the plant to remain indoors and close all windows and doors, but the agency lifted the advisory later Monday. Health officials said their monitors did not detect levels of soot or sulfur dioxide above federal standards. U.S. Steel has been a symbol of industrialization since it was founded in 1901 by J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and others. It's been the icon of the American steel industry that once dominated the world market until Japan and then China became preeminent steelmakers over the past 40 years. In June, U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel announced they had finalized a 'historic partnership' that gives the U.S. government a say in some matters. The deal came a year and a half after the Japanese company first proposed its nearly $15 billion buyout of the iconic American steelmaker. The pursuit by Nippon Steel of the Pittsburgh-based company was buffeted by national security concerns and presidential politics in a premier battleground state, dragging out the transaction for more than a year after U.S. Steel shareholders approved it. Levy, Puskar, Casey and Whittle write for the Associated Press. Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pa. Casey reported from Boston, and Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. AP reporters Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., Beatrice Dupuy in New York City and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Do Kwon pleads guilty to U.S. fraud charges in $40 billion crypto collapse
Do Kwon, the South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind two digital currencies that lost an estimated $40 billion in 2022, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two U.S. charges of conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud. Kwon, 33, who co-founded Singapore-based Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies, entered the plea at a court hearing in New York before U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer. He had pleaded not guilty in January to a nine-count indictment charging him with securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering conspiracy. Accused of misleading investors in 2021 about TerraUSD — a so-called stablecoin designed to maintain a value of $1 — Kwon pleaded guilty to the two counts under an agreement with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office, which brought the charges. He faces up to 25 years in prison when Engelmayer sentences him on December 11, though prosecutor Kimberly Ravener said the government had agreed to advocate for a prison term of no more than 12 years provided he accepts responsibility for his crimes. Kwon is one of several cryptocurrency moguls to face federal charges after a slump in digital token prices in 2022 prompted the collapse of a number of companies. Prosecutors alleged that when TerraUSD slipped below its $1 peg in May 2021, he told investors a computer algorithm known as "Terra Protocol" had restored the coin's value. Instead, they said, he arranged for a high-frequency trading firm to secretly buy millions of dollars of the token to artificially prop up its price. Prosecutors said that false claim and others drove retail and institutional investors to buy Terraform products and boost the value of Luna — a more traditional token that fluctuated in value but was closely linked to TerraUSD — to $50 billion by the spring of 2022. In court, Kwon apologized for his conduct. "I made false and misleading statements about why it regained its peg by failing to disclose a trading firm's role in restoring that peg," Kwon said. "What I did was wrong." Kwon agreed in 2024 to pay $80 million as a civil fine and be banned from crypto transactions as part of a $4.55 billion settlement he and Terraform reached with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Kwon has been detained since his extradition from Montenegro late last year. He also faces charges in South Korea. As part of the deal, prosecutors will not oppose Kwon's potential application to be transferred abroad after serving half his U.S. sentence, Ravener said.
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Vernon food plant pleads guilty after nitrogen leak kills two workers
A food processing plant in Vernon has pled guilty to two misdemeanor counts and will pay more than $6 million after it was criminally charged for a hazardous nitrogen gas leak in 2020 that killed two workers. The deal with California Ranch Foods, a subsidiary of Vernon-based Golden West Food Group, was reached by prosecutors with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office last month and relies on findings from an investigation by California's workplace safety agency. The case stems from a Dec. 1, 2020 incident in which 56-year-old Baldemar Gonsales of Los Angeles and 54-year-old Maria Osyguss of Hemet were found lying unconscious at the company's facility in Vernon after a malfunction caused a leak of liquid nitrogen in one of the facility's chill rooms — specialized refrigerated spaces to preserve meat and other perishable foods. The workers were taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. They suffocated due to a lack of oxygen in the air because of the leak, according to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, also known as Cal/OSHA. 'When employers fail to protect their workers and it results in a preventable death, California will hold them accountable,' Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee said in a Tuesday news release about the deal. 'We will continue to use every tool available, including criminal referrals to ensure justice is served, and that safety is never optional.' The company faces three years of probation for the misdemeanor counts of workplace safety violations, which were reduced from felony charges as part of the deal. The deal takes into account a $35 million civil settlement for the victims families and requires more than $6 million in investments from California Ranch Foods in safety measures, criminal fines and other payments, according to the plea agreement. Specifically, the company is required to invest $1.6 million in safety improvements, pay $50,000 to California's Division of Occupational Health and Safety to support enforcement efforts, pay a $1 million criminal fine and donate $4 million to local food banks. Golden West Food Group, the parent company of California Ranch Foods, did not respond to a request for comment about the agreement. Cal/OSHA issued citations in October 2021 that found critical failures in the company's safety procedures and training around its handling of pressurized gas systems. The ageny's investigation of the incident found that one employee walked into the cold room, passed out, and died of asphyxiation. An hour later a second employee entered the room and similarly died. said Michael Bright, who heads up Cal/OSHA's Bureau of Investigations, which reviews workplace fatalities and pursues criminal cases. The employees received no warning of the leak because the alarm installed in the room was rusted over, Bright said. 'This was a case where there was gross negligence. [The investigator] quickly saw the egregiousness,' Bright said. Besides the company's failure to maintain alarms that would help provide time for a safe escape, Cal/OSHA found the company did not properly train employees on safety procedures or install adequate equipment to prevent harmful exposure. For example, the company did not have a ventilation system to funnel out nitrogen gas, install sensors readable from outside the room, or provide employees with individual oxygen monitors and emergency breathing apparatuses, the Cal/OSHA citation said. The company has since retrofitted and fixed its systems since the fatalities, according to Bright.
