Smithtown Councilman Thomas Lohmann absent from first meeting since assault charge

Smithtown Councilman Thomas Lohmann did not attend Thursday's town board meeting, a brisk 26-minute session and the first since he was charged with assault after an alleged confrontation with a fellow Republican in executive session.  

The meeting at Smithtown Town Hall was to be the first public encounter between Lohmann and Councilman Thomas J. McCarthy since the alleged incident on April 7. McCarthy said Lohmann accosted him during the closed-door meeting, and Lohmann was charged the following day.

But Thursday's meeting began at its scheduled time of 2 p.m. without Lohmann. The meeting ended without any board members mentioning Lohmann's absence.

Lohmann’s seating placard was not visible at the dais as the meeting began. A police park ranger was in the room, which is customary for board meetings.

McCarthy entered the board room alone at 1:56 p.m., shortly after Supervisor Ed Wehrheim. The board launched immediately into a discussion of battery energy storage systems. Officials then voted unanimously on the agenda items before inviting public comment.

Decorum urged

The first two speakers talked about public safety and traffic issues.

A third, Erica Rinear, 71, of Smithtown, said she was disappointed about the allegations against Lohmann.

“During contentious times … it is utterly important that decorum, a sense of team and understanding is demonstrated at all times," Rinear, former president of the Smithtown Public Library board, told board members. 

“I do not want all the good that Smithtown does for its citizens to be tainted," she continued. "We not only vote for you for your insight to our community and its betterment, but we also vote for you as pillars of integrity in our township. Our children should not be seeing fighting. Our children should be seeing understanding, communication and goodwill toward all of us.”

Wehrheim responded, “I could not agree with you more.”

McCarthy declined to comment after the meeting. He did not speak during the meeting.

Town Attorney Matthew Jakubowski also declined to discuss Lohmann's absence.

Nicole Garguilo, a town spokeswoman, said in a text message to Newsday: "His absence has nothing to do with this." She added: "Without violating any HIPAA laws, I can say he was out for health-related reasons." The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, is the federal health privacy law.

Arraignment next week

Lohmann, 68, has not commented publicly on the allegations. He's scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Suffolk County First District Court in Central Islip. He could not be reached for comment Thursday, and his lawyer, Philip J. Branigan, of Holbrook, declined to comment.

McCarthy, also 68, who has served on the council since 1998, had vowed to attend the meeting, even if Lohmann did, too.

Lohmann was charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor. McCarthy has said he was punched and struck multiple times, requiring an MRI on four different parts of his body. He has declined to discuss the test results.

McCarthy has said the incident occurred during a discussion of an unspecified legal issue.

Video of the April 7 meeting shows Wehrheim asked the board for a vote to go into executive session but did not specify what topics would be discussed.

Councilwoman Lisa Inzerillo, in an email, defended Lohmann and denied that a scuffle took place. "I can talk about what didn’t happen and no physical altercation happened at all," she wrote.

The video shows McCarthy forcefully pushing a chair past Lohmann as the meeting ended. The two had an animated discussion. The sound on the video was turned off.

There were no apparent conflicts between Lohmann and McCarthy in the weeks or months before the alleged fight.

The two men had appeared to have mended fences after opposing one another in a 2017 Republican town council primary. McCarthy defeated Lohmann, but voted months later to appoint Lohmann to a vacant town board seat.

Last year, McCarthy and Lohmann joined  Inzerillo and Councilwoman Lynne Nowick in publicly supporting Wehrheim in last June's Republican primary. He defeated outgoing Suffolk Legis. Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) in that race and was reelected in November.