HEATH — The Selectboard has referred a complaint against the police chief over his stop of a family riding golf carts at Mohawk Estates to the community’s board president after vetting the matter.

On Sept. 18, a part-time resident of Mohawk Estates, a private community within Heath that includes vacation homes, filed a complaint against Police Chief John McDonough for a stop he conducted on Sept. 3 while the estates had its end of the season fireworks show.

“I put a lot of thought into this. I don’t think I would have done anything differently,” McDonough said at the Selectboard’s Oct. 10 meeting.

The complaint reads that McDonough stopped the complainant’s family and their neighbors while they were traveling on golf carts within Mohawk Estates. It alleges that McDonough yelled at the person’s 10-year-old daughter asking her what was in her travel wine glass (sparkling water); claimed the golf carts were operating without lights when they did have lights on; and had his family in the patrol car.

“He threatened to spend more time patrolling the Estates,” the email sent to the Selectboard reads. “It is my understanding the Estates is private property and there is no need for him to be in there patrolling.”

Town officials redacted the name of the complainant in the email sent to the Selectboard, a copy of which was obtained by the Recorder.

McDonough wrote a response to the complaint and chose to have the discussion in an open meeting with the Selectboard, which takes precedence over the right of the board to go into executive session, under the state’s Open Meeting Law.

In his response to the complaint, McDonough wrote that the lights of the golf carts were not on and that there were several witnesses to this. He also wrote that he witnessed a truck having to jam on its brakes when the group of golf carts pulled in front of it.

In response to the alleged yelling, McDonough wrote, “They got very defensive, with excuses, that it wouldn’t start without lights. They all wanted to speak at the same time.

“As far as patrolling the Estates,” the chief’s letter continues, “I go through there. I stop and talk with people. I let my presence be known. Most want me to pass through.”

McDonough explained several years ago that he met with the association president of Mohawk Estates and came to an agreement about police presence in the area. He said the estates did a “180,” where in the past a police presence was not wanted and now they have a working relationship.

The chief did write in his letter that his family rode with him in the police cruiser from the Heath Highway Garage to the fireworks display, but they were not in the cruiser during the stop.

The Selectboard explained this did violate town personnel policy. The board read from the policy, “Municipal vehicles shall not be used to transport any individual that is not directly or indirectly related to municipal business. Passengers shall be limited to town employees and individuals related to town work. Family members shall not be transported in town vehicles.”

Selectboard Chair Robyn Provost-Carlson said the incident should be used as a reminder to tell all municipal employees about this policy and that the chief likely did not know about its existence.

“In general we had some conversations like this in the past. Being a police officer is an extreme challenge,” Provost-Carlson said. “This is a challenging situation. I hope we all learn something from this and we all look at how to talk to each other.”

Reach Bella Levavi at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.