North Country This Week

POTSDAM — A judge is set to rule on a motion to dismiss a charge against a former Potsdam Police officer accused of choking a suspect while on duty April 1.

Norfolk Town Justice George Grubee is presiding on the case.

Narrow said he filed an application for a motion to dismiss for a variety of reasons.

He said that Seymour has a 19 year history of serving the Potsdam Police Department with a clean disciplinary record. He noted Seymour is a certified EMT who delivered three children while employed as an officer.

He said that the motion does not include an admission of guilt. He said that based on the evidence presented in the case that Seymour’s use of force was allowed under the police department's policy.

He said that it’s possible the policy needs review, but that Seymour shouldn’t be punished for acting in accordance with the existing framework.

According to Potsdam police, Seymour's employment with the department was terminated on April 25 after an extensive investigation into the incident.

Departmental leadership identified potential misconduct which warranted Seymour be placed on immediate administrative leave while additional investigative steps were taken, the statement said.

Potsdam Police officials contacted the county District Attorney as well as the state Attorney General's Law Enforcement Misconduct Investigation Office for counsel and the matter was subsequently turned over to the county Sheriff's Office, the department said.

The village board met in executive session on April 25 and a notice of discipline was signed by Mayor Ron Tischler terminating Seymour's employment with the village.

Seymour had been employed by the Potsdam Police Department since Dec. 20, 2004.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the investigation conducted after the incident developed probable cause to believe that Seymour “applied pressure to the throat of a male individual, impeding his breathing.”

An order of protection was issued for the victim.

In 2015, Seymour and another officer responded to a fatal stabbing at Swan Landing, during which Clarkson student Tian Ma fatally stabbed fellow student Yazhen Jiang to death.

Seymour, an 11-year veteran of the Potsdam Police Department at the time, who is also a firearms instructor and a certified emergency medical technician, ordered Ma several times to drop the knife.

Seymour fatally shot Ma four times. After he refused to drop the weapon.

An investigation was conducted into the incident, after which Seymour was found to have acted in a justified manner.