BRATTLEBORO — Ten days after he was fired from his job as Westminster’s town manager, Kenneth Fay, 61, of Brattleboro, caused a scene inside the Brattleboro Fire Department
According to an affidavit filed in Windham Superior Court, Criminal Division, Fay committed the offense of disorderly conduct just past midnight on the day after Christmas by causing a “public inconvenience, or annoyance or recklessly creating a risk thereof [and] engaged in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior ...”
If found guilty, Fay could be sentenced to 60 days in jail.
On Dec. 16, 2022, the Westminster Select Board voted to “discontinue the relationship” with Fay just 15 days after he was appointed town manager.
No reason was given for the dismissal, though the attorney for the town said Fay and the Board would be entering into mediation to resolve issues related to his two-week tenure as town manager.
Brattleboro Police Officer Tyler Cooke wrote in the affidavit that he responded to the Central Fire Station on Elliot Street on Dec. 26 to the report of a man in the entryway of the building.
“Dispatch advised when fire personnel began to ask questions the male became irate and began to ‘smack’ the windows,” wrote Cooke. “While en route, dispatch advised the male had picked up a chair in the entryway and was threatening to break the windows.”
Cooke said upon arrival he spoke with Fay, who refused to leave the fire department.
“You’re going to have to arrest me,” Fay said to Cooke.
“I took control of Fay’s right arm, at which time he began to pull away from me,” wrote Cooke. “I advised Fay that he was ‘under arrest’ and attempted to take control of his left arm which was under his body at that point. I was eventually able to gain control and place Fay into handcuffs.”
Cooke noted that during the interaction, he could smell “the strong odor of intoxicants” on Fay.
Cooke said firefighters who witnessed Fay’s behavior said he “was not making much sense,” though when he was making sense, he contended he was being threatened.
“Due to Fay’s intoxication level and uncooperativeness, he was not fingerprinted or photographed,” noted Cooke.
On Tuesday, Fay invoked the 24-hour rule, which gives him one day to decide whether to plead guilty or not guilty to the charge of disorderly conduct.
