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Police called to drunken party at prosecutor’s apartment just prior to two resignations in St. Lawrence County DA’s office

Posted 5/13/16

Updated 10:04 a.m. May 13 By JIMMY LAWTON POTSDAM -- Potsdam police say they responded to a party at a county prosecutor’s apartment early Friday morning May 6 prior to the resignations of two …

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Police called to drunken party at prosecutor’s apartment just prior to two resignations in St. Lawrence County DA’s office

Posted

Updated 10:04 a.m. May 13

By JIMMY LAWTON

POTSDAM -- Potsdam police say they responded to a party at a county prosecutor’s apartment early Friday morning May 6 prior to the resignations of two assistant district attorneys.

The party was reportedly held at former assistant district attorney Matthew Hogestyn’s Market Street apartment, with several employees of the district attorney’s office, including ADA David Park, in attendance. Both Hogestyn and Park have resigned in the wake of Friday’s events.

Potsdam police say a 911 call came in at 3:03 a.m. with the caller reporting an issue that was hard to make out because the caller seemed to be intoxicated. The phone call lasted approximately 30 seconds before the caller hung up. The incident was reported to have occurred at 18 Market Street and an officer was sent to the scene to investigate.

The officer found nothing at 18 Market St. but noticed there was a party at 10 Market St. and investigated.

At 3:07 a.m. dispatch took a second call that was patched directly to Potsdam Police Department.

“The caller was highly intoxicated. The person on the phone was drunk and couldn’t focus on the dispatcher,” police said. The caller was reportedly one of the assistant district attorneys in attendance, but it is unclear which prosecutor made the call.

The responding officer actually arrived on scene while the caller was still on the line. Police reviewed the recording and they could hear the officer interacting with those present during the call.

Police say the doorknob had been removed and there was one individual outside the apartment with multiple people inside. The caller was reporting to police that he was locked in his apartment and wanted to get out. Meanwhile the officer on scene was working to get the door open.

The officer was able to open the door and entered Hogestyn’s apartment.

Police reported that several of those present were intoxicated and one of them also pointed out to the responding officer that there was a sheathed knife on the floor.

The officer on scene questioned those present as to whether the knife was used in any sort of confrontation, but all present stated that nothing like that had occurred. Police did not speculate why attention was drawn to the knife.

Potsdam police said several people were drunk at the party, but assured officers they did not intend to drive.

However, about one-hour later David Park was charged with driving while intoxicated by state police on Market Street. He reportedly had a BAC of .11 percent.

The two resignations have the left the county district attorney’s office extremely short-handed. Just weeks prior to these events ADA Jonathan Jirik resigned after he tried a felony case without proper credentials.

District Attorney Mary Rain has struggled with high turnover since taking office in 2014. Those who have left the office since she took over include but are not limited to Brenna Ryan, David Haggard, Shadi Masri, Mike Gebo, Jirik, Park and Hogestyn.

In August of 2015 District Attorney Mary Rain announced that assistant district attorneys would no longer be making regular court appearances. Rain said her office was overburdened and understaffed. Under that policy, ADAs appeared in local courts only for official hearings and trials.

Rain reported in April that ADAs would be returning to local courts as her staffing levels were back up to snuff, but with three resignations in the past month municipal courts are likely to see a diminished presence.

St. Lawrence County Legislators recently passed a no-confidence resolution regarding Rain and called on Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to investigate whether she is fit to serve as the district attorney.