Originally Posted - November 18, 2006

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ALBANY---A Department of Environmental Conservation captain who served as the liaison between the NYS Office of Homeland Security and the New York City Office of Emergency Management, has resigned after a state investigation found that he had abused his position by harassing women drivers and then lying to investigators about the incidents.

Terrance Revella, 52, of Poughquag, Dutchess County, a 30-year police veteran having previously served with the state Department of Corrections, had been assigned to the Homeland Security Office since October 2003.

Revella has a history of disciplinary problems, having been demoted in 2000 as director of the DEC Division of Law Enforcement after it was determined that he had had an inappropriate relationship with a female subordinate.

The state Inspector General's office said that in 2001 Revella had called a driver a "dumb moron" and an "idiot" over the public address system of his state vehicle.

After using these epithets, Revella then pulled alongside the motorist, lowered his passenger side window, and threatened to arrest the motorist for "obstruction."

The DEC disciplinary charges relating to this matter further alleged that Revella had lied during a subsequent interrogation, when he stated that at the time of the incident he was responding to an emergency call for assistance from the New York City Police Department.

He lost five days of vacation time and issued a written apology to the driver.

In another incident, while operating an unmarked police car, was stopped by a state trooper for speeding on the Thruway. He pointed to the silver stars on his collar (he was then the director of the DLE), told the trooper who he was, and sped away from the traffic stop without being released by the trooper. Revella then refused to comply with the trooper's numerous subsequent attempts to stop him over a distance of approximately 20 miles on the Thruway.

The Inspector General has issued a report concerning the latest incidents which occurred in August, recommending that Revella be fired. The IG's office referred the matter to the state Attorney General's office for possible criminal charges.

The report said that Revella's conduct raised "particularly serious and troubling questions regarding his character, judgment and integrity".

"Revella's conduct during these recent incidents must be evaluated in the context of his prior actions, some of which have come to the attention of this Office during this investigation. What emerges is a pattern of poor judgment and erratic, harassing behavior directed at private citizens, colleagues and his subordinates", the report said.
Investigation of Allegations of Misconduct by Captain Terrance Revella of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

In August 2006, the IG's office received information that called into question the propriety of two traffic stops conducted by Revella. The first incident occurred on Aug. 10 and the second on Aug. 12.

As a result of Revella's actions during these incidents, and at his direction, two persons were arrested and handcuffed for disorderly conduct, a third person was issued an appearance ticket for disorderly conduct, and a fourth was issued summonses for speeding and for making an unsafe or improper lane change.

At approximately 4:05 p.m. on Aug. 10, while traveling southbound on the Taconic State Parkway near Pleasantville, a female driver was pulled over by Revella, who was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and driving a state-owned, unmarked black Chevrolet Tahoe equipped with emergency lights.

While Revella's and the driver's descriptions of the interactions between their vehicles differed, Revella gave two different accounts of what precipitated the traffic stop. The first account was contemporaneous with the event and given to the state trooper who arrived on the scene. This account was consistent with the driver's description of events. Two weeks later, in a memorandum to his supervisor, Revella altered his description of the events in a manner which would suggest that his actions were more in keeping with DEC rules and regulations.

When interviewed during this investigation, the driver said that the incident began when Revella pulled up behind her and flashed his vehicle's lights, which caused her to change to the center lane, after which the Tahoe then passed her.

State Trooper Miguel Cepeda said Revella told him on the scene that Revella had decided to pull the driver over because, as he approached her vehicle from the rear, he clocked her doing 80 mph and, when she moved from the left to the center lane when he approached, she did so without signaling. Revella thus described to Trooper Cepeda that the driver was speeding and had changed lanes without signaling.

A Governor's Executive Order prohibits the use of an unmarked police vehicle to make a traffic stop for these types of violations.

However, in a memorandum dated Aug. 21 to State Police Inspector Ulric MacKenzie, who was on temporary assignment to the OPS and Revella's supervisor, Revella wrote that the driver's vehicle "suddenly and abruptly cut in front of my vehicle at a high rate of speed without signaling. This action caused me to brake abruptly to avoid a collision with said vehicle." This version described conduct more reckless than speeding necessary to justify the initial stop.

Even crediting Revella's version of events as described by Cepeda, Revella must have been driving in excess of 80 mph to have approached, from the rear, the vehicle which, according to Revella, was driving at 80 mph. Revella offered no justification or explanation for his own speeding, the IG report said.

The female driver described that the Tahoe, in the left lane, then pulled alongside her vehicle and the Tahoe's driver "gave me a real scary leer." She described seeing "a lot of hand gestures and motions". The Tahoe then pulled back behind her and began tailgating her. She described the other driver's conduct as playing "cat and mouse".

Finally the driver of the Tahoe put on blinking lights and yelled over the loudspeaker to "Pull over right now." He did not identify himself over the loudspeaker as a police officer. The female driver, uncertain that the unmarked vehicle was being driven by a law enforcement officer, continued to drive some distance before pulling her vehicle onto the shoulder of the parkway.

After the female driver pulled off the parkway, Revella approached "wearing jeans and a T-shirt and a black gun on his hip." When Revella asked for her license and registration, she asked what she had done wrong and told Revella that she was uncertain whether he was a police officer. She told Revella that she had a friend in college who was pulled over by someone impersonating a police officer and was subsequently raped.

When the female driver asked for identification, Revella flashed in her direction what she described as an "oblong copied document". (Trooper Cepeda described that Revella had some type of vehicle permit in his car.) The female driver remained in her car with the doors locked and called 911, seeking confirmation that Revella, who identified himself as a State Police Captain, was, in fact, a police officer.

Two days later, Revella was involved in another traffic stop with a female driver. However this traffic stop escalated into an incident whereby, in addition to the driver receiving a summons, two of the driver's friends, New York Army National Guardsmen in the area on maneuvers, were placed under arrest after arriving on the scene in response to the driver's call for help.

At approximately 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 12, Revella was a passenger in a personally-owned vehicle being driven by State Police Zone Sergeant Christine Revella, his wife.

The Revellas were traveling from a social occasion and were attired in shorts and T-shirts or tank tops. When interviewed during this investigation, both admitted that they had consumed alcoholic beverages at the social event. In fact, Revella stated in his interview that, at the time of the incident, he was under the influence of alcohol and was not sober.

While traveling east on I-84 near the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, Revella and Sgt. Revella became involved with a vehicle being driven by a female. A female passenger was also in the vehicle.

Revella's description of the incident is in conflict with the version provided by the two females in the vehicle. Similar to the Aug. 10 incident on the Taconic State Parkway, Revella's description is inherently inconsistent and contradicted by independent witnesses who corroborate versions of the events provided by the two females and their friends.

According to the report, the conduct of Christine Revella is under review by the State Police. 11-18-06

© 2006 North Country Gazette