Michael D'Onofrio

mcdonofrio@lohud.com

CLARKSTOWN - The alleged tampering of a police department computer hard drive has led to the expansion of a town investigation into a suspended former police sergeant and Police Chief Michael Sullivan.

Former Police Sgt. Stephen Cole-Hatchard, who offered his resignation after being put on leave this weekend, allegedly removed the hard drive from his town-issued computer and later replaced it, said Clarkstown attorney Lino Sciarretta.

The timing suggests the possibility of a “cover up or improper illegal activities,” Sciaretta said, because Cole-Hatchard has filed a federal lawsuit against the town.

“Removing the hard drive from his computer suggests that material contained on it may have been deleted. The very act of removing the hard drive leads to a number of possibilities that must be investigated,” Sciarretta said.

The allegations were revealed at the Town Board meeting, where upward of 90 people attended, including Sullivan. The vast majority of the people were there to support the suspended police chief.

CLARKSTOWN LAWSUIT: Chief and special police unit racially profiled

RELATED: Clarkstown sergeant sues Hoehmann, board

RELATED: Clarkstown-Ramapo fingerpointing on police chief

The Town Board voted to authorize the town’s special prosecutor, William Harrington, to increase the scope of his investigation into Cole-Hatchard and Sullivan. Councilwoman Stephanie Hausner voting against it.

Hausner raised doubts at the meeting about whether the town should be conducting its own investigation when other law enforcement agencies were already administering their own investigations.

“I feel this is part of their job, and I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for the town board to be investigating a … former employee,” Hausner said.

Sciarretta also said the manipulation of the hard drive was “pertinent” to the police chief’s disciplinary proceeding.

Sullivan called the investigation as a “witch hunt,” adding, “people think I’m being railroaded.

“These allegations are completely false,” Sullivan said. “They are misleading and they are seriously hurting this police department, and seriously jeopardizing the safety of our officers and our public with this misleading, misrepresenting of the facts.”

Hoehmann said that he would defer all comments about ongoing litigation to the town attorney.

Sciarretta said that Cole-Hatchard’s computer was placed into evidence by the Clarkstown police department last Thursday in connection to the town's recently filed litigation against Cole-Hatchard and Sullivan.

The hard drive was discovered to have been allegedly tampered with over the weekend, Sciarretta said. It was not known when exactly the hard drive was allegedly removed and replaced.

NEW CHARGES: Sullivan now facing 22 charges

LAWSUIT: Sullivan sues for reinstatement as Clarkstown's top cop

RELATED: Clarkstown police sergeant, placed on leave, resigns

The town filed counter claims, responding to Sullivan's legal action to end his suspension on 22 disciplinary charges, that a special police unit in the Clarkstown police department illegally profiled and investigated two black groups and some elected officials.

Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe and Sullivan previously denied the allegations.

Chris Kiernan, president of Rockland County PBA, said the town’s special prosecutor was manipulating the town’s internal investigation by “leaking” information that was an “obvious parlor trick just to advance his public relations push against the police department.”

Kiernan described the town’s accusations of racial profiling by the Clarkstown police department as “unequivocally false,” “deplorable,” “disgusting,” and “dangerous.”

Sandra Siegel, a resident of New City, said she was "disgusted" with the town board, and called the investigations a "witch hunt."

At the meeting, the Town Board also accepted Cole-Hatchard’s resignation. Cole-Hatchard previously claimed he has become a “scapegoat and sideshow” after being targeted for investigating political donations by former Sgt. Michael Garvey, who helped fund Hoehmann’s campaign for supervisor in 2015.

Twitter: @mikedonofrio_