Cohoes

A woman who called police multiple times in the mid-1990s to report abusive behavior by Cohoes Mayor Shawn M. Morse issued a statement to the Times Union on Monday affirming her calls to police and saying she "must come forward with the truth" after Morse denied abusing her or other women.

"He has publicly claimed that I said the abuse never happened," reads the one-page statement provided by Colleen Keller. "It did happen. ... The abuse started out with me being physically pushed, grabbed and verbally degraded. It escalated from there."

In a Dec. 10 story published by the Times Union, people close to Keller had described an incident from 1995 when she told police Morse grabbed her neck and lifted her off the ground during an argument.

Keller's statement described that alleged assault as the "worst incident" and she said it took place after she and Morse had broken off their relationship.

"He grabbed me by the throat, picked me up, and carried me by the throat into the dining room, where I finally was able to break free," Keller's statement says. "The incident left me with bruises on my neck, throat and arms."

Joseph Ahearn, Morse's attorney, said the mayor "denies the allegations made by Ms. Keller." He said Keller and the mayor have a son together and dated for a shorter period of time than four-year period she described in her statement.

"The relationship between Shawn and Colleen ended very shortly after the child was born (in 1994)," Ahearn said. "After a contentious paternity proceeding in Family Court, Shawn has ... spoken to Colleen only sporadically over the years."

Keller, 46, is one of at least three women, including Morse's wife, Brenda, who allegedly have been victims of physical abuse by Morse. Brenda Morse called 911 last month and told dispatchers her husband "grabbed her by the throat and threw her to the ground," according to a police record.

Keller was not identified in the Times Union's Dec. 10 story because she was an alleged victim of domestic abuse. She had agreed to talk about her calls to police in the mid-1990s on the condition she not be identified.

Three longtime friends of Keller's, and a former city police officer, Gary Ethier, previously confirmed the police responses to Keller's Grant Street residence when she called Cohoes police and reported abusive behavior by Morse, including instances when she said he spit on her. Keller said she filed complaints with city police but that Morse, a former longtime Cohoes firefighter, was never arrested. The three people close to Keller said that her parents, now deceased, had kept copies of police reports and photograph's of Keller's bruises to document the alleged abuse.

Keller said that Cohoes police declined to arrest Morse, even when he allegedly forced his way into her private residence.

"The response to those calls to the police didn't make me feel safe," her statement reads. "Shawn had and continues to have a great deal of sway in the city of Cohoes and I did not. I got restraining orders. Shawn violated them. The police would show up and just say 'go home Shawn.' ... Nothing ever seemed to happen to him. Because I didn't feel protected I had to move out of Cohoes for my own safety."

Ahearn said that Morse believes Keller left Cohoes to live with a new boyfriend.

Morse has recently issued public statements saying he never "harmed" or "hit" any women. He has criticized the Times Union's stories on his alleged abusive behavior as inaccurate and unsubstantiated. Last week, Morse rejected calls from local political leaders — including several fellow Democrats — to resign as mayor. Morse said he will not step down and, at his urging, dozens of his friends, relatives and others attended a City Council meeting last week to support him.

The Times Union uncovered the earlier allegations of abusive behavior by Morse after Brenda Morse called 911 on the morning of Nov. 10 and told dispatchers her husband grabbed her neck, threw her down and had begun to choke her during an argument over a marital problem. When Cohoes police officers arrived at the couple's Grandview Avenue residence that morning, Brenda Morse told the officers her husband had "beat the (expletive) out of me again" and that there had been prior instances of domestic abuse, according to details of the Cohoes' police investigation shared with the Times Union.

In an interview the day after his wife called 911, Morse lashed out when asked to confirm whether his wife told a dispatcher he had grabbed her neck and thrown her to the ground. He denied there was any physical abuse.

"You don't need to know what goes on in my house between me and my family," Morse said at the time. "I want you to tell me where you got that information. ... That's an absolute lie."

When asked about a scratch that was visible below his left eye on the day after the 911 call, Morse responded: "Why don't you go (expletive) yourself. ... I certainly don't have no scratches on my face."

But Brenda Morse told police officers that she had scratched at her husband's face when he grabbed her. Acting police Chief Thomas Ross confirmed that a police official who went to the couple's residence that morning saw "a little scratch on Shawn's face under the eye."

Morse and his wife have declined to authorize the release of her 911 call.

There were also other instances of alleged physical abuse involving Morse.

Assemblyman John McDonald, a former city mayor whose family has operated Marra's Pharmacy in Cohoes for decades, said he recalled an incident in the late 1980s when Morse grabbed a woman by the hair and dragged her out of Marra's Pharmacy, which McDonald's family has owned for decades. McDonald said the woman, now a Waterford resident, worked at the pharmacy at the time.

Morse has acknowledged that he and his wife had a heated argument last month, but he disputed grabbing his wife by the neck or physically harming her. He also has claimed that some details in the police record cited by the Times Union were inaccurate. Morse has stated publicly that their argument stemmed from a disciplinary problem with their younger 15-year-old daughter, who was not home at the time. But several people briefed on the investigation said Morse and his wife both told police that their fight that day stemmed from a separate marital issue.

Morse has said that he left his residence after the fight and before his wife called 911. He said he visited City Hall, drove by a local park where a dedication ceremony was planned for the following day, and also stopped to pick up coffee on his way back home. He denied that a scratch that was visible under his left eye the following day was related to the couple's fight. But Brenda Morse told police that she scratched at her husband's face when he was holding her down and had begun to choke her, according to information about the investigation obtained by the Times Union.

Morse and his wife both were interviewed by State Police last month. That agency is leading the investigation after Cohoes police turned the case over to them due to the potential conflict of interest. As mayor, Morse also serves as public safety commissioner and has oversight of the police force.

State Police used a search warrant to seize Morse's mobile phone last month while he was interviewed by investigators at Troop G headquarters in Latham. Morse told investigators that when he left his residence on the morning of the fight, he also visited an illegal dump, City Hall and the coffee shop. State Police have not recovered the mobile phone that Brenda Morse told police officers her husband threw against a wall during the incident.

Morse, 50, was elected Cohoes mayor in 2015. Before becoming mayor in the city where he grew up, he was chairman of the Albany County Legislature, a powerful figure in the county's Democratic machine, and was employed as a Cohoes firefighter from 1989 to 2015.

blyons@timesunion.com • 518-454-5547 • @brendan_lyonstu