‘The perfect explosion,’ attorneys blame mayor, bar for death of former New Bedford fire chief

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — Two years after New Bedford’s former acting fire chief was shot and killed by police in Fairhaven, two lawsuits are making their way through the court system.

Paul Coderre was shot and killed by police at the Bayside Lounge after firing at officers in 2023.

The Coderre family’s attorneys, David Hoey and Phil Beauregard, filed a lawsuit against the lounge last week, saying the restaurant holds some responsibility for Coderre’s death.

“The bar legally cannot serve alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person, that’s illegal,” Hoey said. “If they do that and something happens, they injure themselves or injure somebody else, that’s actionable.”

The latest lawsuit builds off an existing civil conspiracy case the family’s lawyers are bringing against the City of New Bedford and Mayor Jon Mitchell.

They say it all escalated back in 2022, when Coderre was fired by the city and the mayor’s office said he was dishonest about work-related injuries.

“The conduct and actions by the mayor and the city evolved into a point where Mr. Coderre became very extremely stressed, depressed, embarrassed, humiliated,” Hoey said. “Because the things that were being done and said weren’t true.”

The city hired private investigators to track Coderre while he was out on disability, capturing video of him moving a 176-pound grill from his truck.

“They followed him for weeks and they ended up with him, with some difficulty, removing a grill from the back of his truck,” Beauregard said.

“But doing it the way the physicians told him that he could move and lift stuff,” Hoey added.

The Civil Service Commission found that Coderre was terminated unlawfully.

“They continued to find that there was motive that this was a preconditioned decision by the city and mayor to terminate him for either political grounds or because they wanted to move other people up the fire chief ladder,” Hoey said.

According to the family’s legal team, after Coderre learned the city was planning to appeal the ruling that he was wrongfully terminated, he headed to Bayside Lounge.

“The mayor started the fire,” Hoey said. “The bar put gasoline on the fire.”

The attorneys said Coderre drank at the bar for several hours before engaging in a standoff with police.

He was shot and killed after shooting an Acushnet police officer in the leg, and the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office later released a report that determined officers acted appropriately in the incident.

“He was a moderate drinker,” Beauregard said. “That became an issue moving toward the end of December 2023.”

“You add that to the humiliation and the embarrassment and the fact that the city was appealing his victory before the civil service commission, it was the perfect explosion,” Hoey continued.

In a statement, the city solicitor called the claims against the mayor “groundless,” saying in part:

“The complaint is without merit. The termination of Paul Coderre was appropriate and legally justified under the circumstances.”

ABC6 also reached out to Bayside Lounge but did not hear back by Tuesday night.

Both lawyers said the case is about more than just money.

“The Coderre name in the community was a strong name for honesty and family,” Hoey said. “And conflict with the mayor escalated into this event and escalated into his death.”

The civil conspiracy and defamation case was in court Tuesday, as the city and mayor have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Hoey said they anticipate a decision in about a week to a month.