Plymouth resident I know on Facebook just posted this. Sad reminder of the state we live in. He gave me permission to post for more awareness.
TLDR: Plymouth PD indefinitely confiscated his LTC because someone called in and said they saw it unholstered in his car.
"After an almost 4 year battle in court with the Plymouth Police Department, the Superior court has decided to reverse the decision the District court has made over me getting my LTC back. It all happened the summer of 2021 and I have decided to publicly speak out against the department for taking away my rights other than the fact that I didn’t want to answer any more questions and they were mad and wanted to prove a point.
It all started in June going into July of 2021 when the police were called about a man in his vehicle with a gun. At the time my job was delivering all over Boston until 11 pm some nights. I carried for protection and as it is my right. I would take off my gun from my holster on my side because it was uncomfortable for me to have it against me while I drove. I would put it next to me after I released the magazine which is 100 percent legal. You have to have it within arms reach at all times and I knew as a license holder, the laws I needed to abide by. A couple witnesses who were never identified had stated that they had seen a man with a gun but he was not doing anything with it. In the reports it had said that I had not pointed it or threatened anyone. They contacted the Boston police and a BOLO was put on me. I wasn’t aware of this until the next day when the Plymouth police had called my father’s house looking for me. Immediately after knowing they were trying to contact me, I called the office and spoke to Detective Brian Pierce for about 25 minutes about the entire situation. He told me right away that you’re not in any trouble, we just want to talk to you. I explained that i took it off and put it next to me and sometimes people would maybe have been able to see it. That is not my fault if I offended anyone because I was not breaking any laws. After explaining my side the detective had question after question coming my way. I told him at this point in time I would no longer like to speak to him because I felt as though he was trying to dig and dig because he wanted to pin me with whatever he could. His reply” are you sure you’re done talking”, I said yes and we hung up. The next day my license was suspended.
I took this to district court where it was a long lengthy process. We had the court date and I was present without a lawyer because I felt as though I could get it done because I had not done anything wrong. The judge declared that I had not done anything wrong .
I came out of that hearing with a one year suspension of my license that captain Lebretton agreed upon. A one year suspension even though I didn’t break any laws. I put Captain Lebretton on the stand and asked him under oath “did I break any laws”? He replied with “no”. Even though this hearing meant I was without my license for a year I was willing to go with it because I was going to get it back.
One year goes by and I don’t hear anything. I end up going back to court and having a hearing scheduled to finalize this LTC. Once we go back, the Plymouth Police Department take back the agreement they made with me a year prior. They say that they want my suspension to be permanent even though we had an agreement in place. The judge decides that I have done the time that we decided on and my LTC is to be restored. A couple days after I got the letter saying that it was to be restored, I called the department and was told that they were not going to give my license back and that they were taking it to superior court. Superior court! For someone who broke no laws and was being punished because he didn’t want to answer any more questions a year prior.
Months and months go by and I hire an attorney to be with me during superior court because my second amendment means a lot to me. We go to the hearing and we’re heard in October of 2024. Today I received an email from my lawyer saying we have lost and my license is to remain suspended. This should out rage every person in and around Plymouth. That our second amendment, the right to bear arms, could be taken away like that. Our chief, Chief Dana Flynn, abused his power in this situation from disarming a citizen who had done nothing wrong. Someone saw me with my gun so we’re going to take away his right as a citizen? The police walk around every day with their gun sticking out on their sides and it’s ok. If this could happen to me it could happen to you. It is an absolute power play by the Plymouth Police Department and they wonder why people have an issue with them. I have friends on the department and I was never against the police in any way, shape or form. This is Chief Dana Flynn and Captain Lebretton who feel as though they can do whatever they want and get away with it.
I don’t know if anyone is aware of the situation that happened in 2013. Captain Rogers lost a .357-caliber revolver. Plymouth Police Chief Michael Botieri said that John Rogers took the gun out or off his belt while he was in the men’s room and forgot to retrieve it. The incident happened in the building’s first-floor men’s room. When he realized it was gone, he went back in and the revolver was missing. Botieri said the gun is a smaller, lighter weapon issued to some members of the department’s command staff, whose desk work makes a larger gun more cumbersome. Given the gun’s light weight, Botieri said it’s understandable that Rogers may not have immediately noticed that his holster was empty. Botieri blamed the incident on a “momentary lapse of judgment” and said Rogers would face disciplinary action. He said the captain would not be demoted. “He’s a 30-year employee of the department with nothing on his record, and you just can’t throw that out,” the chief said. “No one feels worse than him about it.” Someone could have been killed in this situation and it could have ended alot worse.
A Captain of the police force loses his gun in a bathroom stall! And the decision was not to demote or fire him because he has no record and you can’t just destroy a man’s career over that. I also had no record. He even was allowed to keep his LTC. If this isn’t a we protect our own, but don’t apply it to every other citizen situation, then I don’t know what is. I understand that this was a different chief at the time, but it amazes me that my right was taken from me and I didn’t lose a handgun. I didn’t break any laws. I wanted to share my story because I feel as though the Plymouth Police department should take full responsibility for this outrageous decision that was made against me. They should be completely ashamed about the way they handled this situation and the abuse of power.
I’m only sharing this because I want people to know what I have gone through and the department should know how wrong it is."
