I-Team exclusive: New Cleveland safety advisor under fire speaks out

CLEVELAND (WJW) – Cleveland’s new senior safety advisor told the FOX 8 I-Team that, despite a firestorm over his hiring and some city councilmembers calling for his resignation, he has no plans to step down.

“I’m not going to back down,” said Phillip McHugh. “I’m here to do a job.”

Earlier this week, three councilmembers questioned why Mayor Justin Bibb hired McHugh, who spent more than 16 years with the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington D.C.

Councilman Richard Starr raised concerns since McHugh was sued by an elderly African-American woman in 2016 who accused McHugh of violating her civil rights. The suit was dismissed and later settled.

“No matter what Phillip McHugh comes with, fake apologies, the truth is in the pudding,” Starr said. “Send him back to D.C.”

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Opening up to the I-Team, McHugh said he wanted to address the concerns and that civil rights lawsuit.

“When people say he violated an elderly senior citizen woman’s civil rights, is that true?” asked I-Team reporter Peggy Gallek.

“Absolutely not,” McHugh said. “And it breaks my heart.”

McHugh said he was assigned the case, where the elderly woman was alleged to have pointed a gun at a woman following a minor accident.

“The heart of the lawsuit suggests you investigated a senior citizen African American couple and continued even after there was no evidence,” I-Team reporter Ed Gallek asked.

“That is not entirely true,” McHugh said. ”Every case that we received deserved a thorough comprehensive investigation that’s guided by our policies. That is what I did.”

He added that he investigated about 100 homicides and hundreds of other crimes.

McHugh said he repeatedly told prosecutors the case involving the elderly woman “was weak” and should not be pursued. He provided us with a copy of the arrest warrant, and it lists some of the evidence as well as the weaknesses in the case.

The arrest warrant states a driver told police that the elderly woman pointed a gun at her following the accident.

McHugh stated in the warrant that video surveillance footage showed the elderly woman bend down at the driver’s seat and emerge with her “right arm pointing something” at the other driver. The other driver then abruptly reentered her vehicle and leaves.

The warrant added that “the video quality is not clear enough to see “ what the elderly woman was holding in her hand. The elderly woman said she had a notebook in her hand, but the other driver said it was a pistol.

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McHugh said he searched the elderly woman’s car and home and did not find a pistol. He said he again told prosecutors the case should be dropped.

“Time and time again, I told the prosecutors this is a weak case,” McHugh said. “This is not something we should move forward with.”

The case was eventually dropped after the other driver said she had a mental illness and took medication that affected her memory.

“I did not know that information until months later,” McHugh said. “I feel terrible about it. The last thing a police officer wants to do is see harm come to someone who is innocent. I still can’t tell you to this day what happened on that street. I don’t have definitive evidence one way or another.”

He said he was represented by city attorneys while in D.C. and was not allowed to talk about the case.

“This is the first time I am able to publicly speak about this,” McHugh said. “This has haunted me for about 10 years. It is the one thing in my career that I felt terrible about.”

He said he was never able to apologize to the elderly woman and would like to do so soon. He added that an internal investigation was done on the case, and he was cleared of any wrongdoing.

McHugh said he was roommates with the mayor while in college, but said he does not believe that is why he got the job.

“This is not the first job I applied for in the City of Cleveland,” McHugh said. “The first one, I did not get. I was not the most qualified and I didn’t get it.”

McHugh said he applied for a job that would oversee special projects in the mayor’s office. He got turned down. When the job for senior safety advisor was posted, he applied again.

The position pays $124,000 annually, less than what he made as a lieutenant in D.C. .

“So, if the mayor only gave me this job because we’re friends, I would’ve gotten the first job I applied for,” McHugh said.

Another flashpoint revolves around McHugh getting hired in Cleveland without having to take a drug test. The city has said it was not required for that position. McHugh told us, nonetheless, he has made it clear that he would take a drug test at any time.

Interim Cleveland Safety Director Wayne Drummond says McHugh is top-notch.

“His skill set is analyzing data, and put processes and put plans in place,” Drummond said. Drummond added that he spoke to one of McHugh’s former bosses who praised his work and integrity.

McHugh says he hopes people will give him a chance.

Rev. Jimmy Gates was one of more than a dozen ministers who met with the mayor about McHugh on Thursday, and Gates said he is willing to give McHugh that chance.

“I’m satisfied with what he said to us,” Gates said. “I welcome him to Cleveland.”

McHugh says he promises to do everything he can to keep the citizens of Cleveland safe.

“I stand on my principals,” McHugh said. “I stand on my record.”

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