Stonington — The attorney who investigated how police initially handled the alleged assault of a Black female hotel clerk by a white couple found that the police department’s statement that Lawrence + Memorial Hospital prohibited them from entering the hospital to arrest one of the suspects due to COVID-19 precautions was false.

The statement that an officer had been barred from entering the emergency room to arrest Philip Sarner had been included in the police department’s initial news release and public comments on the incident. The hospital, through its spokeswoman, had declined to comment on the specific conversation it had with police.

But the hospital maintained it was its policy to cooperate with law enforcement in performing their duties at the hospital. It added that when it comes to allowing police into the hospital, nothing had changed due to COVID-19 except that everyone who comes to the hospital has to be screened.

As part of his investigation into the incident, attorney Frank Rudewicz interviewed a staff member at the hospital who spoke to police on the day of the incident and determined that L+M personnel did not prevent police from entering the facility. In addition, he said the news release issued by the department on July 3 contained inaccurate information that police were prohibited from arresting Sarner at the hospital.

These were just some of the findings Rudewicz made in his report, which was released on Tuesday.

The report also criticized police for their initial handling of the allegedly racially biased assault of Crystal Caldwell by Philip Sarner and Emily Orbay at the Quality Inn in Mystic on June 26 but finds “no evidence to suggest any malicious intent on the part of police in not locating the suspects on the day of the assault.” Rudewicz also found there was no racial or other bias on behalf of police in deciding to allow Sarner to get medical treatment before being arrested. He pointed to other cases involving both Black and white defendants who were not charged until after police could review evidence. In the case of the Quality Inn incident, police were able to interview witnesses and view video after Sarner and Orbay were taken to the hospital and determined there was probable cause they should be charged.

Rudewicz wrote that the police department’s attempt to lure Sarner back to the hotel after he was released from the hospital failed “because Sarner tricked SPD.”

Some in the community had criticized police for not arresting Sarner at or outside the hospital or for not remaining at the hotel to apprehend him after he and Orbay left the hospital. Police had instructed the hotel to disable Sarner’s room key and let police know when Sarner returned. Police had also told Sarner that he would need to contact them upon being released from the hospital so he could return to his hotel room to collect his belongings. But Sarner had already placed them in his car before going to the hospital so when he and Orbay returned to the hotel from the hospital in an Uber, they drove off in their own car at 2:19 p.m. without police knowing. As late as 3:17 p.m., Sarner told police he was still at the hospital. Sarner and Orbay were eventually arrested in Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 13, and their cases are pending.

“L+M Hospital personnel did not prevent Stonington Police from entering the hospital to make an arrest. Sergeant (Keith) Beebe decided NOT to take Sarner into custody at the hospital and instead he and Officer (Brian) Discordia formulated a plan to arrest Sarner upon his return to the hotel to retrieve personal items from his room. The decision to plan to arrest back at the hotel was based upon patrol staffing concerns, personal health concerns and quite probably, convenience," wrote Rudewicz.

What happened at L+M?

After responding to the 11:32 a.m. assault, Caldwell was taken to the Pequot Treatment Center in Groton while Sarner and Orbay, who was five months pregnant at the time, were taken to L+M after saying they had been assaulted by Caldwell.

According to Rudewicz’s report, sometime between 12:10 and 12:20 p.m., Discordia contacted the hospital emergency room and was transferred to a supervisor whose name he could not recall.

His report stated that the emergency room charge nurse notified him that Sarner was waiting to see a doctor and Orbay had been transferred to the labor and delivery unit.

“I inquired about the COVID-19 protocols and I told her I needed to enter the Emergency Room to arrest Sarner. She told me she could not stop me from going in to get a statement, but I would not be allowed in to make an arrest. She told me they are not allowed to tell the police when any one is getting released. The charge nurse said the Labor and Delivery Unit likely had much more stringent guidelines,” Discordia wrote in his report.

Rudewicz said a July 3 police news release stated, “Police called L+M and learned from staff that police would not be permitted inside the ER to make an arrest due to Covid procedures.”

Rudewicz said that statement “was found to be a generalized description but not entirely accurate and was likely a result of a miscommunication or misinterpretation.”

Rudewicz said that during his interviews with Discordia, the officer “acknowledged that he may have misinterpreted what was told to him." Discordia told Rudewicz that he recalled he was told that Sarner would have to complete treatment before an arrest was made and was told that if he wanted to interview Sarner, he would have to be masked while he was in the hospital and wait to make an arrest until after treatment. Discordia also stated that he was told that guidelines in the department where Orbay was located may even be more stringent and not allow waiting or interviewing of patients. Police, however, said they did not intend to arrest Orbay at the hospital.

Rudewicz said he also interviewed at length the L+M employee who spoke with Discordia. He said that while Discorida identified her in his report as the emergency room charge nurse, she has not been publicly identified and so he would not do so in his report.

She told Rudewicz that she spoke with a Stonington police officer who said he would be placing Sarner under arrest, and she told him he could come and speak with Sarner but that he had not yet been treated. In addition, she said the hospital could not release Sarner until after he was treated. She said she told the officer that he could come and wait at the hospital but would be required to wear a mask at all times. She said the officer asked that the hospital hold Sarner after his treatment was completed and contact police, but she said she was not allowed to “hold” any patient or release discharge information.

Rudewicz said that during his interviews with Beebe and Discordia, they both recalled that they were concerned about the length of time Discordia might have to stay at the hospital until Sarner’s treatment was complete. Sarner had not yet been seen by a physician, and they did not know whether it would be minutes or hours until he was released or whether he would be admitted to the hospital.

Beebe said that he had only two other officers on patrol that day, and isolating one officer at the hospital would jeopardize adequate coverage and safety should other emergency calls occur.

“Additionally, Officer Discordia expressed some personal health concerns, in light of possible COVID 19 exposure, of having to wait for an extended period of time in the hospital,” Rudewicz wrote.

The news release

As for the news release, Rudewicz wrote that “after having been informed that patients would not be released before treatment was given and that masks are required while waiting, SPD made an operational decision to NOT wait at L+M Hospital, due to the uncertainty of the wait time, patrol staffing availability and some personal COVID related concerns by Officer Discordia.” He said the July 3 news release “did not communicate that reasoning.”

“However, no information was found that suggests that the statement in the press release was intended to provide misleading or false information to the public. During our interviews with Captain (Todd) Olson, he stated the press release was drafted directly from information contained in the written reports," including Discordia’s initial statement that he would not be allowed in the hospital to make an arrest.

“Captain Olson paraphrased the information contained in Officer Discordia’s incident report. No discussions with the hospital employee that spoke with Discordia were conducted prior to the press release. As a result, SPD was not aware, at the time of the press release, of the miscommunication/misinterpretation of the conversation between Officer Discordia and Hospital staff,” wrote Rudewicz.

Police Chief J. Darren Stewart and the Board of Police Commissioners will now review the report to determine if any action should be taken.

j.wojtas@theday.com