Waterboro landowner sues York County Sheriff’s Office after arrest

ALFRED – The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine has filed a civil complaint against the York County Sheriff’s Office on behalf of a Waterboro man who claims his arrest in January 2018 following an incident involving a school bus parked on his property was unnecessary and unlawful.

The suit, filed Wednesday at York County Superior Court in Alfred on behalf of Caleb Gaul, alleges his arrest and subsequent treatment violated constitutional prohibitions on unreasonable search and seizure and guarantees of safety and due process.

Named as defendants in the civil suit are York County, the York County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff’s Deputy Joshua Morneau, and two unnamed York County Jail employees.

“In this case, an officer of the York County Sheriff’s office arrested Caleb Gaul for an alleged misdemeanor offense for which the prosecutor ultimately dropped all charges,” ACLU of Maine attorneys Zachary Heiden and Emma Bond wrote in the complaint. “This arrest — which the officer knew would result in a multi-hour incarceration, humiliating strip search, and long-term employment consequences — was undertaken for no legitimate public interest and in violation of state statutory law. Mr. Gaul posed no public safety or flight risk that could justify subjecting him to an invasive, humiliating, and costly custodial arrest. Any legitimate interest in charging Mr. Gaul could have been equally satisfied by issuing a summons for Mr. Gaul to appear in court.”

According to the complaint, Gaul’s home is at the end of a long private road owned by him and abutting landowners who maintain it for their private use. After a major snowstorm on Jan. 30, 2018, Gaul drove down the road’s steep incline to make sure the path was clear for his wife, who was following in the family van to drive their children to school.

The complaint states Gaul found a school bus “illegally and dangerously parked” on his private property at the base of the road, waiting to begin the morning pick up. There were no students on the bus at the time.

The road was narrower than usual because of snow drifts from recent storms, and with the full sized  bus parked on the road, there was little room for Gaul or his family to access the public road, according to the complaint. He notified the driver the bus was illegally and dangerously parked, but the driver allegedly insisted he had permission. Later, the school department involved conceded it had no record of any agreement or permission to park there, the suit states.

When the bus driver declined to move, Gaul parked his truck in front of it, according to the complaint, because parking next to the bus would have blocked the road and he didn’t feel safe backing up the icy incline.

The bus driver notified the transportation department, which called the  York County Sheriff’s Office. According to the complaint, Deputy Joshua Morneau responded and arrested Gaul, charging him with obstructing government administration, a Class D misdemeanor. Gaul was handcuffed and taken to York County Jail. The suit claims he was strip-searched in violation of a settlement agreement that requires employees to allow detainees whose charges do not involve a weapon, drugs or a violent felony, to change into a jail uniform without a strip search.

The Class D charge was amended by a prosecutor to Class E. Gaul appeared in court on March 27, 2018, where the district attorney dismissed the charges.

“These sorts of unnecessary arrests damage lives, waste resources, and serve no good purpose,” said Bond in a statement released by the ACLU of Maine. “It’s time to end this misuse of our justice system and stop filling our jails with people who don’t need to be there.”

“I was humiliated, my wife and children were terrified, and my future employment was jeopardized – all because I tried to get an illegally parked bus off my private property,” said Gaul in the ACLU’s news release. “I don’t understand why anyone thinks this is a good use of law enforcement or taxpayer resources, and I hope the Sheriff’s Department will think twice before trying to make an example out of someone else.”

The suit claims Gaul, an audio and technical engineer, suffered adverse employment consequences, physical and psychological injury, damage to his reputation, and financial harm, noting that when he notified his employer of his arrest, he was placed on employment probation for a year.

He is seeking admissions that the arrest was unreasonable, that the arrest and subsequent strip search was in excess of the defendants’ authority and in violation of the Maine constitution, damages to compensate for physical, mental, financial harm and harm to his reputation, punitive damages, and recovery of attorney’s fees and costs.

“This is the first I’ve heard of this,” said York County Sheriff  L. King, who added he would have no comment.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or [email protected]

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