Cairo

The Cairo police chief arrested Wednesday for evidence tampering is accused of wiping fingerprints off a handgun and witness tampering, court records show.

Christopher Sprague, 48, was charged with felony counts of tampering with public records and tampering with physical evidence, State Police said. He also was charged with misdemeanor counts of witness tampering and falsely reporting an incident. Sprague is accused of wiping clean a .380-caliber handgun and later influencing the testimony of a witness who may have illegally possessed the gun.

Sprague is a part-time chief of police for the Cairo Police Department and has been a full-time police officer with the Catskill police force for more than 10 years. He was suspended from his chief's job and placed on administrative leave from his Catskill police job following his arrest.

A law enforcement source briefed on the investigation, but not authorized to comment publicly, said the charges stem from Sprague's handling of a semiautomatic handgun that was recently turned over to Sprague by a person who possessed the gun illegally and believed it may have been part of a criminal investigation.

Sprague, who lives on Maple Avenue in Acra, could not be reached for comment after a message was left at his home Friday afternoon. He was released on his own recognizance following his arraignment before Durham Town Justice Raymond Kennedy, who presided because two justices from Cairo were not available.

Court records show Sprague is accused of trying to "conceal latent prints and other physical evidence" before he turned the handgun over to the State Police. In addition, Sprague is accused of telling State Police that the gun was left in a box at the Cairo Police Department and that he did not know who turned it in, according to the law enforcement source.

The felony charge of first-degree tampering with public records relates to allegations that Sprague directed a Cairo police officer to falsify a state report indicating the gun had been anonymously surrendered, the source said.

Sprague also is charged with misdemeanor counts of falsely reporting an incident and tampering with a witness — for allegedly instructing the man who turned in the gun to lie about the incident.

It's unclear what relationship, if any, Sprague may have with the man who turned in the handgun. The law enforcement source said State Police believe the gun may be connected to an open criminal investigation.

The most recent homicide in that area took place on Jan. 1 in Greenville when Scott Meyer, 40, was shot to death at his West Road home. Less than two weeks later, State Police arrested Maurice L. Pratt, 30, of Poughkeepsie, at a Holiday Inn motel in Kingston. Pratt was charged with first-degree murder.

On the day of Pratt's arrest, State Police Investigator Scott Youngblood said "several items were removed from the house during the homicide."

Youngblood declined to provide any details on Sprague's case Friday. The Greene County District Attorney's office also declined comment.

This is not the first time Sprague has been accused of wrongdoing in his capacity as Cairo's police chief. A federal civil rights lawsuit filed in Albany accuses Sprague of false imprisonment and names his wife, Stacy Sprague, as a co-defendant. Stacy Sprague is a code enforcement officer in Cairo.

That case dates to August 2009, when, at his wife's request, Sprague handcuffed and arrested a local store owner for operating without the proper permit. The store owner, Joanne Lettieri, ignored Stacy Sprague's warning that a permit was required when she opened McBride's Resale Shop on Main Street, court records show. She also posted an antagonizing note on the door of her shop directed at Stacy Sprague.

A few months after Lettieri was arrested, the case was thrown out because a town justice found she did not violate any laws. Lettieri filed the lawsuit against the Spragues in December, accusing them of false imprisonment, humiliation and loss of income.

swaldman@timesunion.com • 518-454-5080 • @518Schools