East Lyme — Police charged an East Lyme man with breach of peace and a court barred him from contact with a town employee who felt threatened by the man in Town Hall last month.

David Godbout, 55, of 15 Cardinal Road was arrested Dec. 26 by East Lyme police and charged with breach of peace. He was released on a $500 nonsurety bond and is due to appear Jan. 23 in New London Superior Court.

In a separate civil court proceeding before Superior Court Judge Emmet Cosgrove on Jan. 7, Cosgrove granted a protective order prohibiting Godbout from having contact with town employee Sandra Anderson.

According to court documents and an affidavit, Anderson, executive assistant to First Selectman Mark Nickerson, wrote in an application for the protective order that she felt harassed and threatened by Godbout after he came into her office shortly before noon Dec. 26 to speak with Nickerson.

Godbout, she wrote, was looking to receive a waiver for Freedom of Information Act printing and scanning fees and documentation related to a proposed public safety complex. After telling Godbout that he would need to speak to Nickerson about the matter and that Nickerson was unavailable, Godbout persisted.

Anderson wrote that after she asked him to leave her office, Godbout started to become “very agitated and started yelling at me, pointing at me in an aggressive manner and swearing while calling me names,” an “expletive retard” and that "it was over for me and that he will treat me in this manner from this point forward."

Frightened by his behavior, Anderson pressed a panic button to summon police while other town employees working in a different office down the hall called 911 because of the intensity of Godbout’s yelling.

Godbout was not represented by a lawyer during his Jan. 7 civil hearing and provided only a self-typed transcription of the conversation between him and Anderson after using a Sony Digital Voice Recorder to document what was said between the two.

As part of his civil protective order, Godbout was required to surrender or transfer all firearms and ammunition to state police. He is allowed to enter Town Hall on the condition that he is escorted when in the building and that he schedules an appointment with Nickerson beforehand.

The protective order is valid for one year.