Bellows Falls bar owner files federal suit over arrest

BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. --A bar owner who says police retaliated against him for publicly criticizing them has filed a federal lawsuit naming the Village of Bellows Falls, its police department and the Vermont State Police.

Wayne Ryan, owner of Nick's, also named former police chief Keith Clark -- now the Windham County sheriff -- in the suit, which alleges that Ryan's constitutional rights were violated and that police purposely subjected him to a "perp walk" so photographs could be taken while he was in custody.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Rutland, stems from an incident last June in which Trooper Eric Vitali and Bellows Falls police Officer Christopher Brooks -- who were undercover -- went to the bar to check for underage drinkers.

Ryan, who was checking IDs at the door, wouldn't let Vitali in because he didn't show any; Brooks, who did, was admitted.

Brooks called his superior, Sgt. John Dunfee, who went to the bar and told Ryan that if he didn't admit both officers, Dunfee would close the bar. Ryan relented, but five days later, Vitali and other troopers arrested Ryan for impeding a public officer, according to the suit.

"The decision to arrest, rather than to issue a citation to appear in court, was made to intimidate and cause fear," according to the suit.

Ryan, whose arrest was thrown out by Judge Katherine Hayes in May, says he was retaliated against in response to critical comments of the police department before a budget vote. He also says police officers failed to accommodate his two disabilities -- he is deaf and has a prosthetic leg -- during the arrest and booking process.

Clark and Dunfee declined comment.

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Information from: Brattleboro Reformer