GREENE – A gun store owner who was recently arrested for aiming an assault rifle at his brother during a verbal dispute has begun filing a civil suit against the Village of Greene, singling out the local police chief in the complaint.
On Aug. 6, 49-year-old Wayne Cook Jr. was arrested on menacing charges in Greene over an incident that allegedly took place three weeks earlier.
Greene Police Chief Steven Dutcher, who is personally named in the notice of claim, said his department arrested Cook at his Water Street address after they received a complaint that he had pointed an AK-47 assault rifle at another person during a verbal dispute on his back porch.
Dutcher did not identify the victim in the case, saying only that he had a prior personal relationship with the defendant. Court documentation filed with the Supreme Court of Chenango County identifies the victim as the defendant’s brother.
Dutcher said Cook’s residence is also his place of business, Cook and Sons Fine Guns. Following the arrest, police obtained a search warrant and seized 47 long guns, including the suspect AK-47.
Cook was arraigned in village court and remanded to the Chenango County Correctional Facility in lieu of $20,000 cash bail.
He later posted bail and contacted his attorney, Ronald R. Benjamin of Binghamton, who promptly filed a notice of claim against the Village of Greene, citing improper conduct by Dutcher.
Dutcher also confirmed an earlier statement, that Cook has disputed, that local police agencies had visited his residence over 13 different complaints, many over harassment and neighbor disputes, in the weeks leading up to the arrest.
“We feel it was a gross abuse of authority by the chief of police. He knows or should have known this incident never occurred. If he had carried out even a minimal investigation, he would’ve found it to be a frivolous complaint,” said Benjamin.
Speaking on behalf of Cook, Benjamin said Dutcher used his influence with the local court to have a higher bail placed on his client and to obtain a “frivolous search warrant.”
