Moments before the chief of the Maine Capitol Police was arrested for assaulting a police officer last month, security staff at a Hallowell bar were attempting to kick him out after he got into a fight with other patrons over taking photographs without permission, according to a recently released police report.
And the chief, Matthew Clancy, struck the Hallowell police officer almost immediately after he arrived on scene and continued to resist physically as the officer tried to handcuff him.
Those are among the new details outlined in the report on the Aug. 2 incident, for which Clancy is now facing several misdemeanor-level charges. The Hallowell Police Department released the report in response to a records request under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act.
Clancy, 62, of Sidney, is charged with one Class D count of assault, one class D count of refusing to submit to arrest or detention with physical force and one class E count of disorderly conduct, police records show. Hallowell police issued him a summons to appear in court Sept. 29 in Augusta.
Clancy also remains on paid administrative leave from his job heading the agency responsible for law enforcement at the State House and other state buildings in Augusta.
Hallowell police Chief Chris Giles said his department’s report has been sent to prosecutors to review.
Natasha Irving, district attorney for Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc and Waldo counties, did not respond to an email Wednesday asking whether her office will pursue the charges.
Irving’s office is handling the case as Maeghan Maloney, district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties, said her office could not due to her professional working relationship with Clancy.
Irving said previously that the case would be filed in Kennebec County and would be moved to another court only if either side pursued a motion to change venue. She said that would be unlikely to happen.
Officer Johnny Narvaez of the Hallowell Police Department wrote in his report that at 11:58 p.m. on Aug. 1, he was parked outside The Quarry Tap Room on Water Street when he saw a crowd forming in front of the bar and restaurant.
Narvaez wrote that he saw a man, later identified as Clancy, in a “verbal altercation with security personnel and other patrons … yelling, being disorderly, and taunting patrons at the establishment.”
When Narvaez asked Clancy to leave, Clancy said he did not have to do so, before grabbing Narvaez’s shoulder and striking him on the forehead with an open palm, according to the report.
Narvaez pulled Clancy’s hands behind his back and began to escort him away from the crowd, his report states. But Clancy pulled his right arm away and a “brief physical struggle” ensued.
A security guard, Robert Magee, assisted Narvaez with holding Clancy’s arms, and Clancy continued to resist being detained, Narvaez wrote. Narvaez and Magee then brought Clancy to the ground “for better control and officer safety.”
While doing so, Clancy struck his head on the pavement and sustained a minor laceration with visible bleeding, the report states.
Narvaez was eventually able to put Clancy in handcuffs, he wrote. While on the ground, Clancy said to Narvaez, “You are f—-d now, do you know who I am?” the report states.
Magee told Narvaez that Clancy was identifying himself as a police chief and a federal agent to people inside the bar. Before Narvaez arrived, Clancy told Magee, “You don’t know who you’re messing with” and “also mentioned that he would have the state police rain down on all of them (security) and ruin their lives.”
Narvaez verified that Clancy was the Capitol Police chief by calling Giles, the Hallowell police chief.
Augusta Fire-Rescue transported Clancy to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, the report states.
There, Clancy’s “behavior alternated between attempts to befriend (Narvaez) and periods of verbal aggression,” the report continues. Clancy told hospital staff he had drunk two beers, but had consumed a few drinks somewhere else before going to The Quarry Tap Room. He also said he was going to sue the bar because of the security staff’s aggression toward him.
When a bail commissioner arrived at the hospital to set bail and release conditions, Clancy “became belligerent towards me and started to yell and became verbal(ly) aggressive with the bail commissioner,” Narvaez wrote.
Later, Narvaez released Clancy to the care of hospital staff, he wrote. Clancy posted $500 cash bail, Giles said previously.
In his investigation, Narvaez spoke with another security staff member at the Quarry Tap Room, Kevin Dawe, who said he saw an altercation in the outside patio area. Dawe reported seeing Clancy “being combative with a group of people he was taking pictures of on the property of the establishment.”
Dawe asked Clancy to stop taking photos and leave, according to Narvaez’s report. Dawe then physically tried to remove Clancy from the bar.
Another security guard, Jack Jowett, also told Narvaez he saw Clancy in an argument with another man about taking pictures without permission, the report states. Jowett tried to de-escalate the situation, too, and asked Clancy to leave several times.
A nearby witness, Aubree Ahearn, said security staff were kicking Clancy out because he was taking photos and videos of girls and making them uncomfortable, Narvaez wrote.
Clancy remains on paid administrative leave as of Wednesday, according to Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety. Moss wrote in an email that there were no updates to share about an internal department review.
Clancy was placed on leave Aug. 2, the day he was arrested, Moss said previously. But the department did not confirm that — or respond to any inquiries — until Aug. 6. Asked about the apparent delay Wednesday, Moss did not answer.
A personal phone number for Clancy listed in an online database was disconnected.
The Capitol Police is a bureau of the Department of Public Safety. In addition to the chief, the bureau lists 11 officers and support staff on its website.
Clancy has been chief of the Capitol Police since 2021. Before that, he was a police officer for 39 years in Massachusetts, including 20 years as a chief in two municipalities, the agency’s website says.
Clancy holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Boston University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
Clancy earned about $107,000 in regular wages in 2024, state payroll records available online show. He also earned just more than $3,000 in overtime pay and collected about $24,000 in insurance and retirement benefits.
The scuffle with the Hallowell officer was not the first time police have encountered Clancy appearing to be intoxicated while in public.
In 2023, police in Waterville saw Clancy get behind the wheel of his truck while appearing to be intoxicated, according to a Waterville Police Department report released to the Morning Sentinel under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act. That incident was reported first by The Maine Wire, an online news outlet.
In the report, dated July 8, 2023, a Waterville police officer wrote that he saw a man “unsteady on his feet” get into his parked truck around 2:30 a.m. in The Concourse parking lot downtown Clancy was also slurring his speech, the report states.
Clancy told the Waterville officer he worked for the Capitol Police, and called his dispatch center for someone to pick him up, according to the report. A Capitol Police officer arrived about 15 minutes later to drive Clancy away, and the Waterville officer cleared the scene.
In response to requests under the Massachusetts Public Records Law, officials in three of the Massachusetts towns that employed Clancy for most of his career — Plympton, Duxbury and Mashpee — said they had no records of any disciplinary actions or complaints regarding Clancy.
A request for any final written decisions pertaining to disciplinary actions during Clancy’s employment in Maine was pending as of Wednesday.
