Steven Frischling, previously arrested and charged for posting photographs of a vehicle accident while working for the Chesterfield Fire Company, is now suing the Town of Montville and two police officers involved in his arrest. Frischling, who has served with Chesterfield Fire Company since 2018 and as its Public Information Officer (PIO) since 2019, was originally arrested in March 2021. His arrest initiated a two-year-long trial that ended with all charges against him being dismissed in March 2023. Frischling, who earned the rank of Captain last November, has now served as the Fire Company’s Vice President for the past two years.
Frischling is suing the defendants for false arrest and malicious prosecution, accusing one of the officers, David Radford II, of using dubious legal precedent and duplicitous means to obtain a warrant for his arrest out of personal contempt.
“Radford knew Frischling was acting in performance of his duties, yet chose to improperly orchestrate Frischling’s arrest and prosecution out of disdain for and dislike of Frischling,” reads the suit. “Radford commenced such investigation on his own initiative and for no other purpose than to vex and trouble Frischling in furtherance of a personal vendetta.”
The other officer being sued by Frischling, Connecticut State Police Sergeant Albert Gosselin III, is accused of signing off on Radford II’s warrant application despite knowledge of its numerous alleged falsehoods.
On February 7, 2021, Frischling took four photographs of a motor vehicle accident that occurred in Montville and later posted them to the Chesterfield Fire Company PIO Facebook page. Frischling digitally altered the photos to conceal the identity of a first responder, as well as the victims’ license plates. The suit alleges that Frischling was wearing a high-visibility jacket with the words “Chesterfield Fire Company PIO” across its back while on the scene, and had a Fire Company identification card on his person.
Radford II claimed that an “unknown person” made him aware of the photos later that day, which prompted him to investigate. On March 8, Radford II obtained a warrant to arrest Frischling on two counts of violating Connecticut General Statutes 53-341c, more commonly known as Joshua’s Law. Frischling was arrested on March 9.
Joshua’s Law stipulates that any first responder on the scene of an accident who takes and disseminates photographs of a victim without their consent or their family’s consent, can be given up to a year in prison, fined up to $2,000, or both. Joshua’s Law does not apply, however, to those taking such photos in “the performance of his or her duties.”
The suit outlines Frischling’s duties as the Chesterfield Fire Company’s PIO, with one of them being to “photograph and visually document incident scenes for release to the public.” It also asserts that Radford II knew of Frischling’s status as Chesterfield Fire Company’s PIO, knew that the photographs were taken in performance of his duties as PIO, and pressed charges anyways.
The suit also alleges that Radford II had unsuccessfully tried to target Frischling’s work as a PIO two years prior. On November 6, 2020, Frischling made a Facebook post promoting a food drive run by the Montville Police Department in conjunction with Montville Youth Services. The post contained two photos, one with a Montville Police Department patrol car and another with a dog wearing a police hat. Radford II then sent an email to the Montville Public Safety Commission, insisting that the post be investigated for “misrepresentation and retaliation against the Montville Animal Control Officer.” The Public Safety Commission did not pursue an investigation.
In a previous article written by The Day, Frischling was reported as having said he believed the arrest stemmed from an “axe to grind” against him in relation to a former Town of Montville Fire Marshall, Bill Bundy. Frischling said he only ever had two conversations with Bundy, but one of them went sour.
“There was a brief phone conversation with Mr. Bundy in early 2023, that I initiated, when I asked him to verify a statement made to me by Mayor McDaniel, when the mayor sought to blame some of this conflict on Mr. Bundy,” said Frischling in an interview with Inside Investigator. “In that call Mr. Bundy, now the East Lyme Fire Marshal, threatened to arrest me if I ever called him again.”
Frischling claims that in Spring of 2020, Bundy told “a number of people in town” that he was a felon, and that Bundy had arrested and convicted Frischling in his previous stint as supervisory detective with the State Police’s Eastern District Major Crimes team.
“I have never been arrested by Mr. Bundy,” says Frischling. “I have never been arrested by CSP Major Crimes. I have never been convicted of any crime, ever, at any time, in any jurisdiction.”
Be that as it may, from that point forward Bundy seemed insistent to get Frischling convicted, according to Frischling’s version of events. In March 2020, Bundy had the Montville Police open a criminal investigation into Frischling, alleging that he was illegally accessing the state’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Web portal. The investigation was “quickly dropped when it became apparent that my Chief authorized the access and that I knew more about the capabilities and functionality of WebEOC than Mr. Bundy,” said Frischling.
After that attempt failed, Bundy then contacted The Day in December of 2020 and claimed that Frischling had improperly used and acquired COVID PPE. Frischling said that the Fire Company’s Disciplinary Review Committee unanimously found him innocent.
“Quite honestly, I have absolutely no idea what Mr. Bundy’s issue is,” said Frischling.
Frischling said that Bundy’s short term as Montville Fire Marshall, which he estimated to have been from 2019 to December 2021, was “often fraught with conflict with the Town’s four independent fire companies.” But before he served as the Montville Fire Marshall, he served for several years as a State Trooper based in Montville, where he developed a “personal relationship” with Radford II, said Frischling.
Frischling said he doesn’t know which of the two set their sights on him first, or why, but believes their relationship influenced attacks on Frischling.
“You’re not the first person to get confused by this and I can tell you, I’m at the top of that list,” said Frischling. “I don’t know, your guess is as good as mine, if you find out let me know.”
Radford II allegedly told a litany of lies to get Frischling’s arrest warrant approved. He lied about being tipped off by an anonymous source to make it appear as though a citizen had complained. He also attempted to paint Frischling as a pretender, omitting both the fact that he was recognized by the Fire Company as their PIO and the agreed upon duties of the Company’s PIO position. Radford II also allegedly omitted the photographs from his warrant application and mischaracterized them as having depicted victims receiving first aid. He also said that the photographs portrayed vehicle occupants and a victim being strapped onto a stretcher. Furthermore, Radford II claimed to have a signed sworn statement from a witness related to one of the victims, which he did not.
On March 5, four days before Frischling’s arrest, Radford II interviewed Frischling with Chesterfield Fire Company Chief Keith Truex present. Chief Truex vouched for Frischling at the interview, saying he acted in accordance with his duties when taking and posting the photographs. After the interview, Frischling emailed Radford II to highlight the clause in Joshua’s Law that exempts those performing their duties from being punishable. Radford II didn’t include either of these details in his warrant application.
In a further attempt to discredit Frischling’s position as PIO, the suit alleges that Radford II lied about the identifying clothing Frischling wore on the scene. Radford II described the wording on Frischling’s jacket as reading “Chesterfield Fire Company”, while Frischling’s real jacket reads “Chesterfield Fire Company PIO.” The lawsuit also alleges that he omitted a dash cam video of the incident, which would have shown Frischling in his jacket. Radford II’s warrant application also failed to include the Facebook post itself to imply that it was posted to Frischling’s personal page.
“The foregoing false statements, mischaracterizations, distortions, and calculated omissions, among others, were critical to a finding of probable cause,” reads the suit.
The suit also accuses Gosselin III, the state trooper who signed off on Radford II’s warrant application, of doing so with knowledge that much of the evidence presented in the application was false. It alleges that Gosselin had “several prior interactions” with Frischling on the job, and knew that Frischling was the Fire Company’s PIO.
Adding insult to injury, the suit claims that the Montville Police Department posted a “Criminal Information Summary” of Frischling’s arrest on March 10 to its Facebook page, revealing Frischling’s home address. This post represented the first of its kind for the department.
Mentioned briefly in the suit as “trumped up charges,” Frischling elaborated further on other charges briefly brought against him in an effort to get him to take a plea. Frischling said he doesn’t remember all of the stipulations of the plea, and that it evolved over time, but that the last agreement on the table would have seen Bowman nolle the charge if Frischling agreed not to sue the town. In early July 2021, the State’s Attorney informed Frischling’s attorney, Mario Cerame, that there was another warrant for Frischling’s arrest pending, that would be dropped per Frischling taking the deal. On July 11th, 2021, Frischling was again arrested, this time for Custodial Interference.
“I was never arraigned for this alleged crime, with the GA 10 State’s Attorney, disposing of it for a multitude of reasons,” said Frischling. Frischling said the alleged crime contradicted the existing custody orders in place at the time.
“The crime had clearly never been investigated, as was evidenced by other issues related to the allegations not being viable,” said Frischling. “The entire record was expunged within days of the arrest.”
While the suit does not bring any charges against Frischling’s lead prosecutor, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Bowman, it did accuse her of “working in tandem [with Radford] to continue the malicious prosecution.” It also claims that in late 2022 to early 2023, Radford II and Bowman held a meeting with the chiefs of several fire departments serving Montville, including Truex, in which the two proposed dropping charges in exchange for revising the duties and responsibilities surrounding fire department PIOs, and transferring their powers to “something in law enforcement” believes Frischling. The chiefs declined their offer.
“Personally, I am shocked by the State’s Attorney pursuing the charges against me,” said Frischling, who stated that she had a copy of his written duties as PIO and statements from top brass at the Fire Company attesting to his position and innocence. “A State’s Attorney has the duty to uphold the law rather than further unlawful arrests and prosecution.”
As a result of the two-year trial that followed Frischling’s arrest, which required him to appear in court twelve times, Frischling is now pursuing monetary and punitive damages from the defendants, as well as coverage for his attorney’s fees. The full list of claims against the defendants includes false arrest, failure to intervene in regard to Gosselin’s sign-off on the warrant application, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Frischling said that he was the only person ever arrested under Joshua’s Law, and that to the best of his knowledge, remains the only person to ever have been.
“I hope no other first responder ever encounters a false arrest or malicious prosecution for carrying out their duties, as I did,” said Frischling. “I was offered plea deals repeatedly over a two year period, but it was my duty to make sure that the false charges against me were dismissed to protect Public Information Officers and Departmental Photographers who are out there day in and day out carrying out their duties assisting their departments, inform the public and advance public safety.”
Radford II, Bowman, and Bundy were unable to be reached for comment.
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Anyone who knows Steven Frischling knows he is a cockroach. He is a bottom feeding person who seeks out people at their worst moment and takes their photograph. He has been previously arrested for bank fraud btw. He has an interesting relationship with the truth. He is suing because he has no real job- he volunteers for a living. He’s perpetually looking for the next woman to lay up on.
You’re a liar hiding behind an anonymous name. Sit Down kid.
Grayghost you are a liar and a p.o.s
Steven Frischling is mentally ill- certified. Captain of chesterfield fire dept! He’s making a fool out of ya’ll. He’d never had a real job and is only a marginal h.s. Graduate. He’s definitely a pathological liar. He’s a domestic abuser and a child abuser. He’s a crook and a scammer. He portrays himself as a public servant but he only hangs out at the firehouse to get sympathy from people for his outrageous lies and free food- check it out he’s gained over 100lbs since he started hanging out there. It’s not too hard to find dirt on this guy- it’s laying around all over the place.
I live across the street from Lieutenant Radford‘s daughter. He has tried to start a fight with me in my driveway for no apparent reason. He also tried to cause an accident on occur lane,he slammed his brake and came to a complete Stop at the green light by the firehouse. I filed a complaint about this also with the department of justice.
Prior To this Sergeant Dennis mathers retired Montville police officer, his daughter across the street I had to get video camera system. Dennis Mathers tried to arrest me for a crime that never happens because I threatened to call the DEA on his daughter’s drug dealer. Melissa Mathers Rodriguez replied to me when I made that threat you better not or you know what will happen. 10 minutes later, Sergeant Dennis Mathers Came to my house and attempted to arrest me throwing something at his daughter’s house. I was told to open the door so he could arrest me. I did not they tried to force their way into this house. I had to run and grab my iPhone. One officer was trying to get his hand in the house from that screen window matter throughout Bay window when he saw me come with my iPhone he yelled camera and everybody started acting normal. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the camera, but this gave me the idea.