Worcester cop sues former police chief and city, alleging pattern of harassment

WORCESTER ― A police officer has filed a lawsuit in Worcester Superior Court, accusing former Police Chief Steven M. Sargent of a longstanding campaign of harassment that city officials allowed to continue.

The 11-page lawsuit filed Thursday by Robert Belsito demands more than $1 million.

The lawsuit, which names both Sargent and the city, stems from allegations the Telegram & Gazette reported on beginning last August: That Sargent April 15, 2023, drove his cruiser toward Belsito’s cruiser not far from the station, culminating the pattern of harassment.

The city abruptly announced Sargent’s retirement Sept. 1 and City Manager Eric D. Batista indicated shortly afterward that reporting surrounding Sargent had hastened his retirement.

Spokesmen for Batista and the Police Department declined to comment Monday, citing the pending litigation; an email to a lawyer who has represented Sargent in the past regarding Belsito’s claims was not immediately returned.

The city commissioned a law firm to investigate the April 15 incident that Belsito’s lawyer, Timothy M. Burke, said Monday was apparently still open.

Burke said his client was questioned by the firm months ago, but that the city has not responded to queries about the status of the probe.

In his lawsuit, Belsito states that the alleged road rage incident was due in part to the city’s prior failure to rein in the chief’s behavior toward Belsito, which a prior investigation had already deemed improper.

As the T&G reported in August, an investigator with the law firm Mirick O’Connell ruled in Jan. 2021 that Sargent had acted inappropriately toward Belsito on multiple occasions including placing a call to his National Guard unit in New Hampshire for the “sole purpose of putting him in a bad light with his military chain of command.”

The investigator concluded that Sargent disliked Belsito — perhaps because he believed the officer hadn’t shown him proper respect — and that Sargent’s accounting of some of his actions, particularly regarding his call to the National Guard, were not credible.

The lawsuit alleges that the city sent Sargent a letter warning that future similar actions could be grounds for termination, but says the city didn’t actually do anything to discipline the chief, despite representations to the contrary.

“On January 25, 2021, Plaintiff met with City officials who inaccurately stated that the Chief had been ‘disciplined' for his conduct toward the Plaintiff,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit did not name the city officials who allegedly made the misrepresentation and Burke declined to identify them Monday to the T&G.

The suit alleges the city, after the Jan. 2021 meeting, refused to give Belsito a copy of the Mirick O’Connell probe, which was led by Susan P. Mitchell, “on multiple occasions,” saying he only got it after filing a public records request years later.

“None of the above information or Mitchell’s report were sent to the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission as required by law,” the lawsuit alleges.

“This failure by the Defendant city was particularly problematic, given the nature of the findings regarding Defendant Sergeant’s (sic) credibility and truthfulness.”

The T&G, the day before the city announced Sargent’s retirement, reported that Batista acknowledged the report needed to be sent to the commission, something he said was in the process of happening.

Batista, who became acting city manager in June 2022, told the T&G he wasn’t aware of the Jan. 2021 investigation until the public records request in 2023.

The investigation was conducted under the tenure of prior City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr.

Augustus, now the state’s housing secretary, has declined multiple requests for comment on Sargent including on information released to the T&G after Sargent’s retirement that showed Augustus disregarded the findings of a separate investigation that sustained allegations of misconduct against the chief. 

Belsito’s lawsuit alleges that the city’s failure to rein in Sargent’s conduct after the 2021 Mirick O’Connell investigation allowed Sargent to continue harassing Belsito.

It describes in detail the alleged April 15 encounter not far from the police station, in which Belsito alleges Sargent drove his cruiser toward Belsito at a high rate of speed, requiring Belsito to “divert his police cruiser to avert a collision.”

Burke told the T&G that video evidence proves Sargent, as Belsito reported, followed his cruiser out of the police station parking lot prior to the alleged incident.

He said it is not yet clear whether the city — which has pole cameras at many intersections — captured video of the alleged incident itself.

The lawsuit alleges that Sargent rolled down his window and accused Belsito of “not wanting to shake his hand today,” prior to the incident and swore at him afterward.

The lawsuit alleges that Belsito was talking to his partner — whom Burke declined to name — during the incident and that Belsito reported it afterward to Deputy Police Chief Edward McGinn and Lt. Joseph Ashe.

The suit alleges that Sargent, in retaliation for Belsito reporting what had happened, ordered the department to place Belsito on paid administrative leave and suspend his license to carry firearms.

Belsito alleges both actions were performed “with no legitimate cause,” and were reversed without any explanation May 8, about three weeks later.

Belsito said both his department and personal weapons were seized from him — seizures he said were “widely known" in the department and caused him “extreme embarrassment and humiliation.”

“The Defendant City subsequently failed to provide Plaintiff with any paperwork regarding the reinstatement of his LTC (license to carry),” the lawsuit alleges. “Additionally, during this same time period, Plaintiff was formally ‘trespassed’ from appearing at all police department locations.”

Belsito alleged that as a “direct result” of the “emotional distress” he was caused, he drove himself to the hospital to receive treatment for chest pains.

The lawsuit faults the city for not placing Sargent on administrative leave after the April 15 complaint, alleging that the city allowed Sargent to continue to retaliate.

The suit also alleges that Sargent “made efforts to disband the Worcester District Court liaison positions,” one of which belonged to Belsito.

As the T&G reported in August, Sargent requested the department draw up a plan to see what elimination of that unit might look like. The department ultimately did not eliminate the unit after McGinn concluded doing so would have widespread negative drawbacks.

Belsito’s lawsuit alleges four civil counts including violation of the Massachusetts Whistleblower Act, civil rights violations and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

“The city of Worcester’s decision to condone Chief Sargent’s actions and refusal to place him on administrative leave despite the clear unlawful nature makes the City of Worcester complicit in Sargent's unlawful conduct and has significantly added to the negative emotional impact that Officer Belsito continues to suffer today,” the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit describes Belsito as a 22-year department veteran who has worked in the service division, community impact unit, alcohol unit and court liaison unit.

(Belsito) is, and always has been, a dedicated, energetic and hardworking employee,” the lawsuit states, adding that he also serves as a master sergeant with the 157th Medical Group of the New Hampshire Air National Guard.

Read the lawsuit by Michael Elfland on Scribd

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Former Worcester Police Chief Steven Sargent faces harassment suit