The state has declined to prosecute an Old Saybrook Police officer accused of choking a man in a bar fight while off duty. However, the officer could still face discipline from the Police Commission.

On March 3, Old Saybrook Police Officer Tyler Schulz was charged with breach of peace in the second degree after witnesses said he allegedly choked a man and pushed another while intoxicated at Essex restaurant Scotch Plains Tavern in February. Schulz has been on paid administrative leave since he was charged and is subject to an internal investigation by the police department.

Schulz appeared in court on May 17, where the state declined to prosecute the case.

According to an affidavit written by Connecticut State Trooper Mark Roberts, the two alleged victims were hesitant to press charges at the time of the incident “due to the potential for retaliation.”

A request for comment from the lawyer representing Schulz was not returned. A request for comment from Old Saybrook Police Chief Michael Spera was also not returned. This story will be updated should they respond.

Roberts’s report stated that, shortly after midnight on Feb. 27, an employee of Scotch Plains Tavern in Essex called 9-1-1 to report a bar fight between a large group of people.

After viewing security footage of the incident, Roberts wrote he observed one man “forcefully shove/strike [the other man] backward on the shuffle board table.” According to a witness who was later questioned, the man in the video was identified as Schulz.

After further investigation, Roberts wrote that one alleged victim stated that he and Schulz had had a close relationship until fairly recently. The victim reported to Roberts that after Schulz had gone through a divorce his behavior had changed in ways the person called “disturbing.”

The victim told Roberts that he unexpectedly ran into Schulz at the restaurant, where he said Schulz later tried to start up a conversation. According to Roberts’s report, the victim claims that he told Schulz he didn’t want to talk to him “because [Schulz] was clearly intoxicated.” The fracas started soon after.

The victim told Roberts that at one point during the disturbance after people tried to pull the men apart, he saw Schulz put his hands on another person’s throat; he also described seeing red marks on that person’s throat once Schulz had been pulled off the second person.

Roberts’s report states that photos emailed to him by a second alleged victim show a person with “significant red marks and scratches on both sides of his neck consistent with his account.”

After speaking with Schulz, Roberts wrote that Schulz claimed that the group of people had antagonized him earlier in the night leading to the fight and told Roberts that “nice guys finish last.”

Roberts wrote that “Schulz’s partial account…did not match the video surveillance segments that I observed, the account of the manager, the account of the victim, or the accounts of either of the witnesses.”

While the court case has been dropped, Schulz could still discipline from the Police Commission. On May 12, the commission held a special meeting to discuss the case. The commission made a unanimous decision to authorize the town attorney to respond to an offer from the police union relating to potential action against an Old Saybrook police officer. The offer from the union was not made public.

Commission Chair Alfred Wilcox confirmed the offer had to do with Schulz but declined to specify what the offer from the police union was. Wilcox also declined to comment further on the matter, citing the ongoing nature of the issue. Wilcox said he expects the commission to discuss Schulz again at the next Police Commission meeting scheduled for May 23 (after press time for this article).

Reached for comment on May 18, Wilcox said that “the conclusion of the criminal proceeding has no effect on the disciplinary matter.” Wilcox again declined to comment further.

The harshest punishment Spera can hand out as chief is a 10-day unpaid suspension; anything further would require the approval of the Police Commission.