SANFORD — Town Councilor Alan Walsh identified himself as a councilor five times on May 15, twice to dispatchers on a recorded line and then allegedly to two patrol officers who answered a noise complaint at a party he was attending.

“Do you know who I am,” Walsh asked Officer Marshal Davis, one of two officers who responded to the noise complaint, according to a report of the incident and its aftermath prepared for the Town Council.

The report was prepared by attorney Mark Dunlap in the aftermath of Walsh’s arrest on suspicion of drunk driving and Walsh’s contention he was targeted by Sanford Police. It was released Monday evening after councilors first reviewed the 30-page document in a closed-door session.

Walsh this morning said he would review the report with his attorney Gene Libby and then decide what steps, if any, to take.

But Walsh called into question the decision to use Dunlap as the investigator. Walsh said he asked Dunlap if he or the firm had previously represented the town and was told he had not. Walsh said he later found out Dunlap’s firm, Norman Hanson Detroy, had previously represented the town.

“I think the facts prove it is not an independent investigation,” said Walsh this morning. As to the content of the report, Walsh said he agreed with some of it but disagreed with other portions.

Walsh was arrested by Sanford Police later in the evening of May 15  and  was later released after a breath test showed he was under the .08 legal limit.

“I believe I acted appropriately, I was not drunk,” said Walsh.

The incident has fractured the Town Council, and began when Walsh called police to ask when the town’s evening noise ordinance went into effect. Walsh left his phone number with dispatchers and asked that he be called if there were noise complaints emanating from the party he was attending at a friend’s home.

Police were called to answer a noise complaint and during a conversation with Walsh, Davis said he noticed that Walsh was glassy-eyed, slurred his words and was unsteady on his feet. Walsh later had a conversation with Officer Matthew Jones, where he indicated he felt the other officers had been unprofessional in their dealings with him and the party hosts.

Sometime after that interaction, Jones said he felt Walsh was intoxicated based on his earlier observations of him, and so later followed him into his driveway at about 11 p.m.

Walsh admitted to Jones that he had five beers and was taking prescription drugs, and that at least one of the medications had a warning against its use with alcohol. According to the report, Jones observed Walsh to have an unsteady gait, glassy reddish eyes, smelled of intoxicants and was slow to respond to questions.

After a breath test at the police station, which came after a series of field sobriety tests, Jones decided to release Walsh.

Jones told Dunlap he first had an internal dialogue about stopping a town councilor, but decided he should treat Walsh like anyone else.

Jones reported that after the breath test, he treated Walsh in a more lenient fashion than he would have an ordinary arrestee. Jones could have called in a drug recognition expert, but wanted to end the episode, according to the report. Jones also told the investigator Walsh was cooperative during the tests and booking process, and that played a role in the decision to release him. Jones did tell Dunlap however, that in an ordinary situation he would have called in a drug recognition expert to administer a drug test.

“I applaud his honesty,” said Council Chairman Joseph Hanslip of Jones’ admission.

Sanford Police Chief Thomas Connolly said the report exonerates Sanford Police.

“It shows the officer said what he said, and that he didn’t do anything improper,” said Connolly. He noted that a decision to make an arrest and pursue charges is discretionary.

“I don’t think (Jones) made a bad decision. We know what will and will not be prosecuted,” Connolly said.

Any next step by the council, now that they have the report, remains to be seen.

“I say we talk about it in public,” said Council Vice Chairman Kevin Chabot. Chabot said he believed Walsh had overstepped his duties as a councilor.

Hanslip said the council needs to read the report carefully and decide what action, if any, should follow.

Councilor Anne Marie Mastraccio said she’s had enough.

“I think the police did what they should have done. I believe the police,” she said.

“If anything, they cut him some slack. (Walsh) should have said ”˜thank you very much’ and gone home and slept it off,” Mastraccio said. “This should have been over with the next day. I did not get on the council to deal with these kind of issues. For me, it’s over.”

In the days that followed, the report, compiled based on an interview with Walsh, the police officers involved, the police chief and some town councilors, shows that Walsh remained perturbed at the way he believed he had been treated. On May 16, according to the report, he called Councilor Bradford Littlefield, asking for the phone number of the town’s economic development director in order to get a number for an investor looking at projects in Sanford.

“Walsh was going to call that investor to tell him he shouldn’t be in Sanford because of what happened to him the previous evening,” the report states.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.