Alexandra Drake, a former police officer with the New Boston Police Department, has filed a lawsuit alleging that one of her fellow cops rated female drivers based on how “rapable” they were. The lawsuit names lieutenant Michael Masella, who field-trained Drake, as the officer who allegedly made these comments. The town of New Boston, New Hampshire, and Police Chief James Brace are also named in the suit, which alleges that officials did not investigate Drake's complaints, and made “false, slanderous, and libelous allegations” against her.
The lawsuit alleges that Masella told Drake that he wanted to take women who had been stopped for traffic violations out of their cars “and ‘rape’ them rather than issue a citation. Masella would routinely make comments about female drivers whom he thought found him attractive or good-looking. He has apparently developed a ‘rapability’ scale about female drivers and would test Drake whether a particular driver was ‘rapable.’ ”
“Masella spoke very negatively about…two former female employees, which made Drake nervous,” the lawsuit says. “Drake was certain that the slightest slip could make her a target of severe harassment, termination of employment or even rape.” Drake also alleges that Masella made inappropriate comments to her while she was off-duty, and even showed up at her house. “When Drake opened the front door, Masella asked her if she was naked,” the complaint reads. “Drake told Masella she ‘was not’ at which point Masella stated ‘Oh, alright I will come back later.’ ”
According to his attorney, Brian Cullen, Masella was “shocked by the allegations and absolutely denies them.” The cop and his client assert that Drake's allegations “were manufactured by her to explain her termination.” Drake was fired in 2015 for falsifying a DWI police report in September 2014, although she claimed that Masella ordered her to do it to assist defense attorneys. Drake said that she was fired directly after filing a sexual harassment complaint against Masella, which was never investigated.
