By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First

A South Burlington police officer fired by City Manager Jessie Baker this month plans to take his case to the City Council.

Officer Cody Wilson, a three-year member of the city police force, was dismissed by Baker on Nov. 7 based on two of three recent police internal investigations, according to records obtained by The Other Paper. The two most serious cases involve possible creditability issues in a police investigation and the other is for an unrelated accident while trying to apprehend a fleeing bicyclist, Baker wrote in her dismissal letter.

City Council Chair Tim Barritt said this week that the council had been notified that a union grievance had been filed over the dismissal and that the five-member city panel will be expected to hear the appeal.

Police Chief Willian Breault said no date has been set for the appeal. He said the hearing must be warned under the Vermont Open Meeting Law.

Wilson is represented through the local city police union, which is affiliated with the New England Police Benevolent Association out of Massachusetts. Attempts to reach Sgt. Matt Plunkett, the local president of the South Burlington Police Officers Association, were unsuccessful.

Under Vermont’s Open Meeting Law, Wilson is free to ask for either a public or private hearing.

Under city regulations the disciplinary hearing is expected to happen between 10 and 20 workdays after the appeal is filed. The city is expected to present witnesses and Wilson and his lawyer will be free to present written or oral arguments.

The council must provide a written decision within 30 workdays of the hearing and it is supposed to be final with no appeal, the regulations said.

Wilson, 36, of Fletcher did not respond to a request for comment and his lawyer, Susan Edwards, also has been unavailable for comment.

Baker in her dismissal letter focused on the two separate incidents. She said that in one case Wilson improperly used a city police cruiser to help apprehend a fleeing bicyclist in a trespass case. The two vehicles apparently collided and the cruiser rolled over a foot of the suspect on Sept. 25, records note. Baker wrote that an Internal Review Board (IRB) sustained violations of city policies covering excessive force and operation of vehicles.

In the second case, the (IRB) sustained violations of city policies dealing with submitting reports and conduct unbecoming an officer, Baker said. The case stems from an August arrest of an Eric Loyer, 33, formerly of Bristol, a frequent customer of local law enforcement departments.

After being alerted by the city on Oct. 6 about its concerns in Wilson’s investigation, State’s Attorney Sarah George said in a letter later that day that she now believed Wilson “made a patently false statement in a probable cause affidavit and neglected to include exculpatory evidence…”

George said she would not take any more cases from Officer Wilson.

Baker, in a third case, said Wilson was found to have violated the department policy on accepting gifts. Somebody who had frequent encounters with South Burlington Police apparently left him a four-pack of beer that sat in his locker for over a year and was seized recently, records show. Baker did not assess a penalty in that case.