AUBURN — The second-in-command at the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department was fired or resigned Monday, depending on whom you ask.

Michael Lemay, who served as Sheriff Guy Desjardins’ chief deputy, worked his last day Monday in that post. Several sources said a disagreement between the two centered on Lemay’s repeated interference with a family member’s legal issues.

Both men acknowledged they had a meeting that day and talked about a personal issue concerning Lemay’s family member and how Lemay was handling that situation.

Desjardins said he told Lemay he’d have to change his behavior or leave and Lemay decided to leave. Lemay declined to provide details, but said the choice he was given was really no choice at all, forcing him out of the job.

At least one police officer from another department complained to the sheriff that Lemay tried to interfere as his family member was being questioned during a traffic stop, and that the former deputy sheriff left late-night messages for court officials and prosecutors regarding unrelated charges against that same family member.

Neither Desjardins nor Lemay would discuss the specifics of those accusations, but Lemay acknowledged that he did appear at this family member’s traffic stop, although he said he never intervened in the situation. In fact, he said, he told the patrol officer to do what he felt he had to do in the situation. He said he does not believe he made any suggestion that should have stopped the officer from doing his job, even though, he later learned, the officer felt pressured not to issue a ticket.

After the traffic stop, that officer reported his discomfort with the situation to his supervisor, a concern that was then relayed to Desjardins, who brought his own concerns of the report of this incident, among other things, to Lemay’s attention. 

Desjardins said the two had philosophical differences during their discussion. At the end of it, “It was his choice to leave,” he said.

“I was extremely concerned about how he dealt with that issue,” the sheriff said. “It wasn’t acceptable to me.” He said Lemay’s conduct was “totally inappropriate.”

“I had to address it,” he said.

Desjardins said Lemay maintained his stance that his behavior was appropriate.

“That was unacceptable to me,” Desjardins said.

Lemay holds a differing view.

He said he had done nothing wrong in supporting his relative, and that Desjardins “decided that he didn’t want me to serve anymore.”

Lemay said there was no animosity. He had served at Desjardins’ pleasure and “currently, he wasn’t pleasured.”

Lemay said the disagreement stemmed from an email sent to Desjardins regarding his behavior at the traffic stop.

“He wanted me to come around to his way of thinking and I told him I couldn’t,” Lemay said.

“He said I would either have to do that or resign. I said, ‘I’m not resigning. You’ll have to fire me.’ And he did.”

Desjardins felt the family issue might have interfered with the running of the department, though it hadn’t yet, Lemay said.

“I have some personal issues that I’m trying to resolve,” Lemay said. “The sheriff doesn’t agree with me.”

Lemay denied that he ever interfered with a law enforcement officer’s handling of the traffic stop.

“And that’s not why I left the department,” Lemay said, although his behavior during that stop was part of his discussion with the sheriff on his final day of employment.

“The sheriff and I disagreed on what involvement I should be taking in my (family member’s) future,” Lemay said. “That’s what it all comes down to.”

Desjardins said he was sorry to see Lemay go, praising his handling of his day-to-day duties on the job. “All in all, he did a very good job.”

A veteran Auburn police officer, Lemay became Androscoggin County’s third chief deputy in three years.

The last two chiefs before him had left over the job’s pay, which ranks among the lowest of Maine’s 16 counties.

After almost 29 years as an Auburn police officer, Lemay was able to retire as a lieutenant and collect his pension, making the lower pay more palatable.

Before Lemay, Michael Ward left the job after only five months. The town of Oxford offered him a pay hike to work there.

Before that, Eric Samson left the chief’s job for a second time. Both times, the reason was money. He would have been forced to take a pay cut from his sergeant’s pay if had he remained.

Lemay, who is originally from Old Orchard Beach, spent three years with the Portland Police Department before coming to Auburn in 1981.

Desjardins said he would take a couple of weeks before embarking on a quest for Lemay’s replacement.