First in a multi-part series
Questions for Chief Gerard Dessoye.
1) Why was
Dessoye, a married man, having private trysts with his old girlfriend
(Catherine Meehan)? Is he still meeting with her as a source for drugs?
2) Was he
meeting with her for intimacy? For prescription narcotics? Both?
3) Why were
approximately one hundred 911 calls (regarding 522 McLean St) ignored?
4) Why did
Dessoye give cash to Catherine Meehan (source: Catherine Meehan herself)?
5) WHY WAS
THIS DRUG HOUSE PROTECTED?
Catherine Meehan's "rap sheet"
Consider the protection offered to Catherine Meehan (1st
three items researched by Andrew Staub (reporter for Citizens Voice Newspaper)
and confirmed/expanded upon by Brenda Meehan)
- She has been convicted of Possession of firearm and
attempted armed robbery (Restaurant at 5th Ave and 76th Street in Brooklyn)
- She has been convicted of anther felony for attempted
murder in NYC. Brenda Meehan explained to me that Catherine stabbed a woman and
killed the fetus. This happened before the time in which fetuses have the
rights they do now).
- Catherine spent 2 years at Bedford Hills (a New York
state Penitentiary)
- Catherine has had seven arrests in the last two years
(from 2011; source: W-B City Hall spokesman Drew McLaughlin)
- Catherine was put on 6 months probation. She has
violated this probation and was given 6 more months. No jail time. She was
given this soft treatment despite being a two-time felon and having 7 arrests.
- In 2011, she falsely reported her car being stolen
- A woman died after buying heroin from Catherine’s house
- Police reports, 911 and phone records indicate over one
hundred 911 calls were made concerning the house
- In 2011 alone there were 35 emergency calls
- Brenda Meehan saved her sister Catherines life by
taking her to the hospital after an overdose on heroin on April 21. Catherine
was unresponsive.
- Three of 12 police incident reports indicate drug
activity
- One incident report specifically mentions Catherine
selling prescription narcotics.
- The last contact Catherine had with her sister (Brenda)
was in November/December 2011 at 5:30 AM when she woke up Brenda by shouting
"I am going to burn your F'n house down."
======================================================================
CITIZEN’S
VOICE Resident contends W-B
police chief protected drug addict
By Andrew Staub (Staff Writer)
Published: November 18, 2011
The Citizens' Voice Wilkes-Barre police Chief Gerard
Dessoye called Brenda Meehan's allegations 'nonsense' and refused further
comment.
WILKES-BARRE - Brenda Meehan and her daughter have lost
the last three years of their lives - and city police Chief Gerard Dessoye
should take the blame, the woman said during Thursday's city council meeting.
Meehan, who lives in a double-block home on McLean
Street, accused Dessoye of providing a "halo of protection" for her
sister Catherine Meehan, a drug addict who previously was involved in a
romantic relationship with Dessoye, Brenda said.
That connection, Brenda said, led Dessoye to protect
Catherine after she moved into 252 McLean St., in September 2008 following the
death of their mother. Brenda Meehan contends her sister and her boyfriend,
Gary Greiss, sold heroin and pills from the home and said her teenaged daughter
often had to step over used syringes on shared front and back porches.
Police reports obtained under the state's open-records
law indicated there were at least three instances of suspected drug activity at
the home over a three-week period in April 2011. The Citizens' Voice is still
waiting for the release of reports from prior years.
From the time Catherine moved into the home until Brenda
had her evicted this summer, Brenda said she lived through encounters with gang
members, endured multiple threats - including a drug dealer waving a gun at her
and her daughter - and a burglary at the double-block home. Her daughter could
no longer play outside and will not sleep at the home, Brenda said.
"My child should have never had to forgo so much because
a police chief was merely concerned more about himself than he was about
protecting and serving," Brenda said.
Dessoye was not at the meeting and could not be reached
for comment Thursday. Dessoye did not return multiple phone calls after Brenda
first raised the allegations during an October town hall meeting.
A few days later, when asked for comment about Brenda's
claims while walking on the street outside the police station, Dessoye called
the allegations "nonsense" and said he would not comment. Mayor Tom
Leighton did not return a phone call seeking comment Thursday evening.
Brenda said she spent about $8,000 to finally have her
sister evicted this past summer and said that she's not sure where her sister
is living now. Catherine does not have a phone number, Brenda said, adding she
has not been in contact with her recently.
Brenda, has, though, called city hall officials and
police dozens on dozens of occasions over the past three years, she said.
From June 2008 to July 2011, police were called to Catherine's
side of the home 56 times, according to Luzerne County 911 records. Police were
called to Brenda's side, 254 McLean St., 18 times during the same stretch, the
records show.
The incidents included reports of domestic abuse, threats
and three instances of overdoses.
So far in 2011, county 911 reported 35 emergency calls
connected to the Meehans' double-block home. Wilkes-Barre police filed 12
incident reports in regard to those calls, three of which specifically mention
allegations of drug activity. (Over 100 in total).
> On April 8, police responded to an anonymous call
that a man was selling drugs from Catherine's home. Later that day, Brenda
played a voicemail "her sister Cathy" had left on her answering
machine that indicated two men, one of them named Gary, had gone to New Jersey
the day before and returned with heroin, according to police documents.
> On April 16, two people were arrested on summary
warrants outside 252 McLean St. A man with the group told police that Catherine
and Greiss were selling "prescription narcotics" from the home,
according to a police incident report.
> On April 21, Catherine was taken to Wilkes-Barre
General Hospital after Brenda found her unresponsive after a possible drug
overdose, police said.
Catherine and Greiss have not been charged with any
drug-related crimes over the three-year period she lived on McLean Street,
according to court documents.
She has been charged at least twice by Wilkes-Barre
police for violating a protection-from-abuse order Brenda had issued against
her, according to court documents.
She also pleaded guilty to falsely filing a report her
van was stolen in April 2009 and was sentenced to six months probation, court
records show.
Catherine was charged with other, more minor offenses,
such as scattering rubbish and disorderly conduct, according to court
documents. But they aren't drug charges, and that's the problem, Brenda said
Thursday.
Brenda asked the council members what they would do if
they were in her position. Council Chairwoman Kathy Kane suggested contacting a
lawyer and later said council would refer the matter to Dessoye.
"We will pass it on to the police chief," Kane
said, prompting disbelief from Brenda.
"The police chief?" Brenda said. "It's
about the police chief."
"He is in charge of our police department,"
Kane said.
The other two council members present, Mike Merritt and
Rick Cronauer, offered no comment. Afterward, Brenda called the council's
response a "farce."
Read more:
http://citizensvoice.com/news/resident-contends-w-b-police-chief-protected-drug-addict-1.1234119#ixzz1hFm3NNDE
