'I Smell Alcohol on You From Here,' Westhampton Beach Village Police Chief Tells Officer Who Overturned Vehicle, in Video Held Back for Months

In a police body camera video that the Village of Westhampton Beach failed to release for more than seven months, in contravention of the New York State Freedom of Information Law, the village’s chief of police tells an off-duty police officer who had just been in a rollover accident in the village, “I smell alcohol on you from here.”

The Southampton Press formally requested the video under FOIL in September 2023. The village only made it available last week after an attorney intervened on The Press’s behalf.

Village Mayor Ralph Urban and Police Chief Steven McManus attribute the delay to the volume of FOIL requests the village receives and said the village is working toward improving its handling of requests.

The Press made a FOIL request for the accident report on April 13, 2023, and the police department sent back the written report the same day. However, the report indicated that the accident report included “police photos,” which had not been provided.

Within an hour, The Press asked Lieutenant Ryan Lucas to provide “photographs and body camera footage pertaining to this accident report.”

When the department released bodycam video from the accident investigation a month later, the footage of McManus talking at the scene to the officer, Connor Raynor, was not included.

McManus said on Friday that he considered his conversation with Raynor part of his internal investigation and not part of the accident investigation. He explained that because the conversation did not pertain to the accident investigation, it did not fall within the scope of the FOIL request, so it was not provided in response to the request.

The Press’s September 2023 FOIL request was broader. It specified that the newspaper was seeking previously undisclosed video and audio recordings that pertained to both the accident and the misconduct investigation.

McManus acknowledged that the video was within the scope of the September 2023 request and apologized for not releasing it in a timely manner. “We have been receiving an exorbitant amount of FOILs and we are creating new ways to adequately address the FOILs in a timely fashion,” he said.

Westhampton Beach Mayor Ralph Urban likewise apologized for the delayed response to the FOIL request and cited the volume of requests.

“Villages and cities, I think, are being overwhelmed with FOILs, and having the personnel and the time to deal with them is a problem. But we are trying to streamline the process as much as we can and become much more efficient,” he said. “And, yes, we did drop the ball. So we apologize for that.”

Urban became mayor in January to complete the term of former Mayor Maria Moore, who was elected Southampton Town supervisor.

Moore and Urban, who was a trustee at the time, both said they were unaware of the September 2023 FOIL request when it was filed. Moore explained that the Village Board is not informed when FOIL requests are made — only when a request is denied and the denial is appealed.

The Southampton Press previously reported on the November 28, 2021, accident, which resulted in Raynor being suspended for 30 days without pay and docked another 30 days worth of vacation time.

A letter of reprimand and departmental disciplinary charges against Raynor state that he was speeding, failing to stay in his lane and tailgating another vehicle prior to the accident, then he “improperly left the scene of the accident and failed to promptly notify” police.

The reprimand states that he was under the influence of alcohol and carrying an off-duty firearm prior to the accident but does not allege that Raynor had been under the influence while behind the wheel.

The only Vehicle and Traffic Law citation the officer received was for driving a vehicle with an expired registration.

McManus, who arrived at the scene to see for himself, was the one who directed a police officer to write the ticket. He gave that command prior to interviewing Raynor and observing the smell of alcohol on him.

“The department generally does not comment on personnel issues. However, in New York State, each crime has its own set of elements that must be met to support a criminal charge,” McManus said in a statement.

“There was difficulty in charging DWI in this case, because of the time frame of observations,” Urban said. “So we can’t say that it did happen and we can’t say that it didn’t happen, so that was a difficulty and a hurdle.”

According to the accident report, the rollover crash that ended in the front yard of a Bridle Path home occurred at 6:21 a.m.

Police learned of the accident when a tow truck driver reported to Southampton Town dispatchers at 6:33 a.m. that he received a call to retrieve an overturned vehicle in Westhampton Beach. A Westhampton Beach Police officer, in a bodycam video, told the chief that Raynor had been at the scene when officers arrived.

That police officer took off his body-worn camera for about four minutes after he arrived and two other officers left it on the seat of a police vehicle until the officer retrieved it.

That officer told the chief that he had interviewed Raynor but not on camera. McManus told the officer to call Raynor to return to the scene and repeat the interview on camera. The officer did so at 8:25 a.m. Raynor said he fell asleep at the wheel, came to and realized there was a leaf pile, overcorrected, and lost control of the vehicle. He confirmed that he was the only person in the vehicle and that he did not need medical attention. Raynor left on foot after the brief interview.

The officer did not ask Raynor if he had been drinking prior to the accident and did not say anything about detecting alcohol — though just minutes later the chief said he could smell alcohol on Raynor.

The video finally released by the village on April 16 revealed that, almost immediately after the police officer’s interview with Raynor ended, the officer asked Raynor to come back at the chief’s request. Raynor returned at 8:30 a.m.

After asking Raynor if he was okay — Raynor said he was a little shook up but good — the chief explained that the following day then-Sergeant Ryan Lucas would reach out to him.

“You are required to come in and speak to Sergeant Lucas when he calls you,” the chief said, and Raynor agreed.

The chief began to ask, “When’s your next t—” and abruptly stopped, prompting Raynor to ask what he had said.

“My next what?” Raynor said. “I’m sorry, my next what?”

McManus paused, then asked, “Connor, why do I smell alcohol on you from here?”

“I mean, I don’t know why,” Raynor replied.

“You don’t know why?” McManus responded. “I smell alcohol on you from here.”

“Okay,” Raynor said.

The chief repeated the requirement that Raynor come in to speak with the sergeant and also advised, “You should probably reach out to Andrew Kirwin and make sure you have somebody with you when you come in.” Kirwin is a leader in the Westhampton Beach PBA.

McManus confirmed that Raynor understood before walking away. After they parted ways, the chief caught up to Raynor, and, while gesturing toward the rolled-over SUV, instructed Raynor to make sure any police equipment was picked up and not left behind.

Raynor and then-Mayor Moore signed a settlement agreement in March 2022 that allowed him to keep his job in exchange for accepting what amounted to a 60-day suspension with the additional requirement that he submit to drug or alcohol testing during work hours for three years.

The Village Board approved the settlement at a meeting that was not announced to the media, in violation of the state’s Open Meetings Law — and video of the meeting is not available publicly.

The settlement only came to light in April 2023 as a result of a FOIL request that The Southampton Press filed in February 2023 seeking all police disciplinary records for the prior two and a half years. Similar requests were made of all South Fork towns and villages.

Westhampton Beach Police at first only provided a letter of reprimand, but then, upon further inquiry, provided the settlement.

Lucas sent the photos and a download link for bodycam footage on May 11, 2023.

Then, on August 18, 2023, acting on information that another video from the scene existed but had been withheld — a video in which McManus speaks with Raynor — The Press asked Lucas via email, while CC’ing McManus, if there were any outstanding videos pertaining to the investigation that The Press had not received yet. The Press also called the department and left a message for Lucas, via McManus. Neither message was answered.

Having received no response from the police department, The Press then formally filed a FOIL request with the village clerk on September 8, 2023.

The village clerk, Elizabeth Lindtvit, acknowledged the request five days later and said it would be forwarded to McManus. There was no further communication from Village Hall or the police department for months. When The Press asked the village clerk for an update in January, the clerk never replied.

The Freedom of Information Law requires that within five business days of receiving a FOIL request a municipality fulfills the request, denies it in writing, or at least acknowledges receipt of the request. Within 20 business days of acknowledgment, the municipality must fulfill or deny the request or state in writing “both the reason for the inability to grant the request within twenty business days and a date certain within a reasonable period, depending on the circumstances, when the request will be granted in whole or in part.”

The village never communicated a reason why more than 20 business days would be required.

Heather Murray, the managing attorney for the Local Journalism Project at the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic, sent an appeal to the Village Board, via the mayor’s secretary, on behalf of The Press. Murray explained in the appeal letter that the village’s failure to grant or deny The Press’s FOIL request in a reasonable period of time constitutes a “constructive denial.”

“Westhampton Beach has provided no explanation for taking nearly seven months to fulfill a request for readily available and clearly public records concerning audio and body cam footage,” Murray wrote.

The Freedom of Information Law requires that appeals are answered, in writing, within 10 business days.

The village clerk responded to The Press on April 16 — which is 11 business days after Murray sent the appeal — and provided the video file on a thumb drive, with a $10 fee for the drive.