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Former TV anchorman Ed Dague arrested for alleged threats  
  
By JIMMY VIELKIND, Staff writer
Last updated: 11:20 p.m., Thursday, November 1, 2007

MILTON -- Former WNYT anchorman Ed Dague was arrested Thursday morning in connection with a threatening call to the Saratoga County 911 center, Sheriff's deputies said.
  
Dague, 64, of Stillwater, was arrested and charged with second-degree aggravated harassment, according to Sgt. T.J. Goodwin. He was released on an appearance ticket and will appear at a later date in Town Court. The sheriff's department did not immediately release additional details about why Dague was arrested.

Dague retired from WNYT in 2003 because of a flare-up of arthritis in his neck. He began his broadcasting career at WRGB in 1973. He also worked at WTEN. Dague writes a blog for the Times Union called In Media Res about issues confronting the local media.

A woman answering the phone at Dague's house late Thursday said he had no comment.

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Undersheriff says ex-anchorman Dague threatened to use a gun
Call allegedly made on Sunday to 911 center over wife's ticket  
  
By MARC PARRY, Staff writer
Friday, November 2, 2007

MILTON -- After his wife was pulled over for talking on her cell phone while driving, former WNYT Ch. 13 anchor Ed Dague allegedly called the Saratoga County 911 Center and threatened "to go the scene with a firearm" if she got a ticket, a law enforcement official said today.
  
That episode Sunday led to the veteran newsman's arrest Thursday on the misdemeanor charge of second-degree aggravated harassment, according to Saratoga County Undersheriff Michael Woodcock.

Dague's wife was driving on Route 9P in Saratoga in the early afternoon when she was pulled over by a sheriff's deputy, Woodcock said. She apparently called Dague, Woodcock said, who then called the 911 center.

"Basically, he was very upset," Woodcock said. The undersheriff didn't have an exact quote, but he summarized Dague's statement to the 911 dispatcher as "that if she were to get a ticket he would have to go to the scene with a firearm."

Dague's wife -- identified by WNYT as Donna Dague -- did get the ticket. And after an investigation, Woodcock said, Dague was arrested on the harassment charge and released on an appearance ticket for Milton Town Court. The maximum penalty is a year in jail, a $1,000 fine or both, Woodcock said.

Dague, 64, told the Times Union in an e-mail today that his lawyer had ordered him not to comment.

"I would really like to and I may yet because clearly something outrageous happened," the Stillwater resident said. "But I just cannot, yet."

Dague added in a subsequent e-mail that he does not own a gun and that his lawyer is his son.

Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III gave this statement:

"I have been advised there is a charge of aggravated harassment brought by the sheriff's department. It is returnable Tuesday in the town of Milton, and certainly before that time, my office will review the file that we will receive from the sheriff's department."

Dague said in an interview with his old employer, WNYT, that his chronic pain was a factor in the episode. Health problems forced his retirement in 2003.

Dague told the Times Union then that he suffered nearly constant pain from reactive arthritis and a related condition called ankylosing spondylitis, a degenerative rheumatic disease that affects joints, tendons and ligaments, mainly in the neck, back and hips. His joints and spine have been calcifying and fusing for years.

Dague began his broadcasting career in 1973 at WRGB Ch. 6. He also worked at WTEN Ch. 10. Dague writes a blog for the Times Union called In Medias Res about issues facing the local media.

His last post, about television ratings, was Thursday night. Dague's blog can be found at http://blogs.timesunion.com/eddague.

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reactive arthritis and a related condition called ankylosing spondylitis, a degenerative rheumatic disease that affects joints, tendons and ligaments, mainly in the neck, back and hips. His joints and spine have been calcifying and fusing for years.

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Don’t be too quick to forgive Dague

   I know everyone is confused and fascinated about the recent story involving a former, well-respected newsman and anchor for three decades [Nov. 2 Gazette]. I’m almost positive that after he publicly apologizes, and blames his actions on pain and drug dependency, that he will be widely forgiven.
   But as someone who has been publicly criticized by Mr. [Ed] Dague, I am not one to forgive him so casually. Mr. Dague obviously believed his status and celebrity should allow him to call the police and have his wife’s ticket “fixed.”
   Then, when Mr. Dague doesn’t get his way, he is alleged to have gotten belligerent and obnoxious to people on the phone, and who weren’t even the ticketing officer. Then Mr. Dague allegedly uttered the unforgivable — he threatened to go to the scene with a gun and take care of things to his satisfaction with the threat of physical force and violence.
   Mr. Dague’s wife’s offense, if she is found guilty, draws no points on her license and most likely a fine in the $100 range. Did Mr. Dauge overreact because of his pain and medication, or because he believes celebrity has its privileges?
   I don’t really know the answer because I don’t know Mr. Dague. I do know that many people read his blog, and he has repeatedly criticized me without even calling me and asking me questions. Isn’t that what a good newsperson does — questions and get all sides?
I am forced to conclude, at this early stage in this bizarre story, that Mr. Dague’s actions are due to arrogance. I conclude this because Mr. Dague has exhibited the same arrogance that caused him to criticize people — including me — unfairly in his very public blog.
JOHN ARETAKIS
New York City
The writer is a lawyer who has represented many people alleging sex abuse by members of the Catholic clergy.  

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Aretakis hit the nail on the head about Dague

   John Aretakis tells it like it is. His Nov. 13 letter about Ed Dague was thoughtful, intelligent and right on the money. Dague acted as a politician and famous person. Call the police when your family has a problem and maybe the problem will go away.
   Many of us have long admired Aretakis for his courage, fortitude and years of long struggle in taking on not only the church, but those in law enforcement, judicial and political arena — who have allowed the church to cover up crimes against children for years. To many of us, Aretakis is courageous. When he writes, we take notice and we are hoping he continues his hard work in exposing injustices.
   MICHAEL MOONEY
   Charlton

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Former news anchor pleads guilty to harassment
Wednesday, January 9, 2008

MILTON — Retired news anchor Ed Dague pleaded guilty to a reduced count of harassment this week in connection with verbal threats made to a Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher in November.
Dague, 64, of Putnam Road in Stillwater had been charged with second-degree aggravated harassment on Nov. 1.
Police said he threatened to “go to the scene with a firearm” after his wife was pulled over while driving and allegedly talking on a cell phone at the same time.
Harris Dague of Albany, an attorney and Ed Dague’s son, said Wednesday that the Saratoga County District Attorney’s office agreed to reduce the aggravated harassment charge, a misdemeanor, to a simple harassment, a violation.
Harris Dague said his father pleaded guilty to this charge Tuesday in Milton Town Court. He paid a total fine of $345.
Milton court handled the case because the sheriff department’s headquarters and dispatch center are located in the town of Milton.
Dague’s wife also agreed to plead guilty to a charge of using a cell phone while driving, Harris Dague said.
“We are happy to have this behind us,” Harris Dague said Wednesday night.
Dague, who was a longtime anchor at WNYT News Channel 13, was the dean of television news anchors in the Capital Region until his retirement in 2003 because of chronic medical problems.
Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III said Wednesday that Dague received no special treatment in the harassment case.
Murphy said the threat to the sheriff’s dispatcher was “very clear” because the phone call was recorded.
“His attorney provided us with information on [Dague’s] medical problems,” Murphy said. In addition Dague had no prior criminal history and did not own a firearm.
Murphy said in such a situation, reducing the misdemeanor to a violation was “a standard reduction.”

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Dague’s son denies claim of preferential court treatment
BY KATHY PARKER Gazette Reporter

    Former TV anchorman Ed Dague did not receive preferential treatment in Milton Town Court when he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge this week, according to his son and attorney, Harrison Dague.
    But District Attorney James Murphy III said the Dagues misled him in an effort “to duck the press.”
    The senior Dague was charged with second-degree aggravated harassment on Nov. 1 after a Saratoga County sheriff’s dispatcher reported he had been threatened over the telephone.
    According to police records, Dague threatened to “go to the scene with a firearm” after his wife was pulled over while driving and allegedly talking on a cell phone.
    Dague’s case was heard in Milton Town Court because the sheriff’s dispatch center is in Milton.
    The case was postponed in November and again in December at Harrison Dague’s request, according to Murphy.
    Murphy said Dague had requested a third postponement when the case was scheduled for Tuesday before Town Justice Carlos Calderon III.
    Murphy said he agreed to a further two-week postponement in the case and his assistant, Robert Chauvin, told reporters waiting in town court Tuesday that the case would not be heard that day.
    In a press release, Murphy said he had determined Calderon had “convened a ‘special session’ on Tuesday evening at or about 5:30 p.m. to adjudicate the case.”
    Harrison Dague said there was no special session.
    “That is completely false,” he said. “I appeared during the 4 p.m. session in open court with probably 50 other defendants and waited my turn until I was called at about 5:15.”
    He said there were about 20 people still waiting to speak to the judge when he handed his district attorney-approved plea agreement to Calderon.
    “My father was not present,” Dague said, adding that Assistant District Attorney James Davis had offered a charge of simple harassment in a plea deal which reduced the crime to a violation.
    “My father was not required to appear in court to answer a violation,” he said. “He had the signed plea, which was authorized by the district attorney, and I gave that to the judge,” he said.
    Murphy said Dague’s appearance after 4 p.m. did create a special session of the criminal court because at that hour the assistant district attorney is not present and only vehicle and traffic cases are expected to be heard by the judge.
    “When someone tells me they want a case adjourned, then they show up, it looks like I’m participating in a cover-up,” Murphy said. “I told the press it was postponed because the press had been calling my office for weeks asking when the case would be heard.”
    Harrison Dague said he hadn’t done anything wrong and he felt Murphy’s office “might have had miscommunication” about when Dague planned to be in court.

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Dague points to pills
Former TV anchor cites depression, medication in threat case, now resolved

By DENNIS YUSKO and JIMMY VIELKIND, Staff writers  
First published: Friday, January 11, 2008

MILTON -- Former longtime TV news anchor Ed Dague was under the influence of a powerful narcotic to dull chronic pain and was suffering from depression when he phoned a Saratoga County 911 dispatcher and threatened to "go to the scene with a firearm," he said Thursday.
Dague, one of the region's best known television personalities for years, had been charged with aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor, in connection with the October incident sparked by his wife receiving a traffic ticket for using her cellphone while driving.
     
But he quietly resolved the case in Town Court late Tuesday by pleading guilty to a reduced count of second-degree harassment before Judge Carlos Calderon III, Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III said.
Dague was ordered to pay a $250 fine and court fees.
Dague, 64, broke his silence about the case in an exclusive interview Thursday in his Stillwater home. He explained that he was deeply depressed and highly medicated on methadone when he called the 911 dispatcher last October after learning deputies had ticketed his wife, Donna.
Dague displayed the medications he takes and a note from a doctor addressed to the court. He said he started seeing a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with depression after the harassment charge.
"Pain can drive you," said Dague, trailing off and unable to sit still because of joint and spinal pain. He also denied getting special treatment in the court case. "That's what people don't understand. But what most bothers me is this crazy idea that I would ever think that being a celebrity could get me out of this."
Just how Dague's celebrity influenced the case and how county law enforcement officials handled the plea was hotly debated on Thursday, as Murphy and Dague's attorney and son, C. Harris Dague, traded barbs.
Murphy had told the media that the Dague case would be heard at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Several reporters and cameramen waited for Ed Dague outside Town Court. Then, Murphy said, he granted the Dagues a two-week adjournment in the case at their request. But the matter proceeded anyway late Tuesday afternoon in a "special session" of the court without the district attorney's knowledge, Murphy said.
In a news release and in comments to WGY radio on Thursday, Murphy said the plea was made to Calderon when the court does not traditionally meet. But he stopped short of alleging intentional wrongdoing.
"This was not a coverup," Murphy told WGY radio in an interview. "Certainly, the judge and I will have a discussion."
Calderon could not be reached for comment.
"Despite the adjournment, the matter was disposed of ... sua sponte (by its own motion) with the defendant and his attorney present," Murphy said in a statement. "The district attorney's office was not notified."
But C. Harris Dague calls Murphy's explanation "inaccurate."
Calderon handled the Dague plea before other defendants while court was in session, C. Harris Dague said.
"Any allegation or insinuation he gave my father special treatment or operated outside his powers is completely inaccurate. Everything was done by the book here, and I think he ... doesn't deserve to have these allegations leveled against him," the attorney said.
The Dagues also disputed Murphy's assertion that Ed Dague was present at the court proceeding. In the news release, Murphy said no further comment would be forthcoming, and he did not return phone calls.Ed Dague said during Thursday's interview that he expected the case to conclude on Tuesday and never sought an adjournment. He added he even rescheduled medical appointments for the proceeding. The former newsman also offered his own version of the late-October incident that led to his being charged.
He said he remembered taking four pills of methadone, which is prescribed for his joint condition, ankylosing spondylitis, the day he called the dispatcher to complain about his wife being issued a ticket.
Dague said his wife was driving with a wireless device in her ear, but was not using a cellphone as police allege.
C. Harris Dague said he negotiated his father's plea deal with Murphy. Also, Donna Dague has agreed to plead guilty to the traffic ticket, the attorney said. Ed Dague had no prior criminal history and did not own a gun at the time he made the threat to the dispatcher, he added.
The plea is not unusual for someone without a criminal record, said defense attorney Kevin Luibrand of the Luibrand Law Firm in Latham.
"That's not an unusual disposition at all," Luibrand said. "That's what a defense attorney would be trying to accomplish for your client if there was proof of the conduct."
Ed Dague authors a blog on timesunion.com, but said Thursday he is uncertain whether he will continue with it.
"I think I'm ready for a complete withdraw from public life," he said.