AUBURN – Results of an independent investigation into the police handling of Mayor Norm Guay’s arrest is expected soon, according to the city.

City Manager Pat Finnigan said Wednesday that she expected the investigation would be completed in the next 10 days. Finnigan began the investigation on Aug. 11, a week after Guay’s drunken-driving arrest.

“There have been more people to talk to and more things to consider than we first thought,” Finnigan said. “Right now, we are treating it more as a review of our policies than an investigation. We’re taking an opportunity to make sure the way everyone acted was appropriate.”

Guay admitted he drank a couple of beers the night of Aug. 4. Auburn police stopped Guay later that evening on East Hardscrabble Road for having an expired registration. Officers asked him to take a field sobriety test and then brought him to the Auburn Police Station to perform a Breathalyzer test.

That test showed the mayor’s blood alcohol content at 0.01, which is well below the 0.08 legal limit for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol. The state Attorney General’s office decided not to press charges later in August.

The city has been in labor negotiations with the police labor union since July, and Finnigan contacted Portland law firm McCloskey, Mina and Cunniff later that week and they began reviewing police reports and records the following Monday. Councilors agreed to hire the firm to look into the police handling of the arrest.

staylor@sunjournal.com

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