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Rhode Island prosecutor arrested in viral video to be placed on unpaid leave
Attorney General Peter Neronha said earlier this week he was still weighing whether to keep Devon Flanagan on his staff.
A Rhode Island state prosecutor will be placed on unpaid leave after she was caught on video invoking her title and telling a police officer he would “regret this” as she was arrested outside a restaurant in Newport last week.
Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan’s unpaid leave begins Monday, with no end date in sight just yet, a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office confirmed. In the meantime, the office is continuing its review of Flanagan’s Aug. 14 arrest on a misdemeanor willful trespassing charge.
Police body-worn camera footage of the incident went viral online and shows the 34-year-old and her friend arguing with officers who were responding to a call about an unwanted party outside Clarke Cooke House. It was unclear why the pair were not welcome at the restaurant, but police reports indicate alcohol was involved.
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“I’m an AG,” Flanagan repeatedly tells officers in the video, also demanding they turn off their bodycams.
“Protocol is that you turn it off if a citizen requests … to turn it off,” she says in the video. The AG’s office has said Rhode Island’s body-worn camera policy actually stipulates that an officer may turn off the camera at their discretion upon the request of a victim or witness.
“Buddy, you’re going to regret this,” Flanagan can be heard telling an officer as she’s loaded into a police cruiser.
Flanagan’s friend, 34-year-old Veronica Hannan, was also arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, willful trespassing, and resisting arrest, according to Newport police. Hannan’s lawyer, John R. Grasso, said in an email the incident unfolded “fast and furious.”
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“Those handcuffs came out pretty quickly, police were putting their hands on her (and her husband), and from what I saw, nobody except for Veronica was trying to slow things down,” Grasso said.
Appearing on WPRO radio Tuesday, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said he was still weighing whether to keep Flanagan on his staff.
“Look, she’s put me in a bad position, she’s embarrassed herself, humiliated herself, treated the Newport Police Department horribly,” Neronha said.
He added: “No question, there will be a strong, strong sanction here.”
State payroll records indicate Flanagan — whose full name is Devon Flanagan Hogan — has an annual salary of slightly more than $113,000. She’s due for arraignment on the trespassing charge Aug. 27, court records show.
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