New Haven battalion chief arrested
charged with third- degree assault and disorderly conduct. Fire
Chief John
Alston placed him on administrative leave as soon as he learned of the allegations, police said.
According to the warrant for Wadley’s arrest, the assault happened about 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 19 at Horwitz Uniforms, 375 Morgan Lane in West Haven, when Wadley was off-duty. He had come into the store to buy firefighter clothing; New Haven firefighters are given vouchers for purchases of shirts, pants, turtlenecks and boots.
Wadley wanted to buy boots that were not on the list of approved items, and when the employee told him that, he became upset, the woman told police. He told her to “fudge” the purchase order to make it look like he bought them through the city of New Haven, the warrant said. The boots cost $100 to $125.
The fire official raised his voice, berated the employee and asked “Why are you so hard on me?” the worker told an officer. He also said he would steal the boots and laughed at her, according to the warrant.
The woman told Wadley to fill out the rest of his order and he did, after which he went to her desk at the front of the store. He then bent down to the seated employee and started talking about the boots again, telling her he wanted her to “look the other way” so he could get the boots, the warrant said. When she told him no again, he said, “I thought we were friends,” she told police
Wadley again said he would steal the boots, after which the womansaid she would report him to the store’s owner. Wadley then grabbed her by the back of the neck with his right hand and squeezed, “shaking her neck from side to side saying, “I thought we were friends,” the warrant said.
The woman told him to stop and he did, after which she asked another employee to come out of her office and finish the purchase, it said.
Later, after Wadley had left, a police officer arrived and found the woman crying, with red marks on her neck. She told the officer that she felt a lot of pain when Wadley squeezed her neck, the warrant said, although some of the redness was from stress.
When police talked to Wadley, he denied that he ever touched the woman, the warrant says. He acknowledged that he questioned why he couldn’t make a purchase that was not on the list, but said he was kidding when he claimed he would steal the item, the warrant says.