FRANKFORT, N.Y. (WKTV) - A Frankfort man is suing the village mayor and police chief. Before Harold Griffin's civil suit sees the inside of a courtroom, he'll have to answer criminal assault charges stemming from an election night scuffle with Mayor Frank Moracco. Griffin's attorney, Mark Wolber, says it all stems from an election night vendetta.

"My understanding is that the whole thing stems from the election because Harold's wife was running for a position as trustee and her friend Sharon Carlesimo was running against the mayor," says Wolber.

While it might have started on election night, it didn't end there. Fast forward to May of this year, when attorney Wolber claims his client had a run-in with village Police Chief Steve Conley

"On May 20th when Harold was in Stewart's what he tells me is that he was approached by Chief Conley of Frankfort and he was told if he left there he was going to be arrested," says Wolber, who added that there could be an unmistakable record of what actually happened.

"Again it's our belief that Harold didn't do anything wrong; there was a videotape in the store. That may show us what happened." Even if the tape proves useless, Wolber says people from both the election night scuffle and the Stewart's episode are willing to testify on his client's behalf.

The assault charge against Griffin stemming from election night is set to go to trial in late July. Attorney Wolber expects it will be hard to prove, as he has written reports from emergency workers stating that two of the alleged victims - including village Mayor Frank Moracco - told EMTs they felt fine and had no injuries. Wolber says Griffin suffered bruises and broken ribs from that scuffle. Once the criminal case is resolved comes Griffin's civil case against the mayor and police chief.

Wolber also plans to file a notice of claim against the village in the next several weeks regarding what allegedly happened at the Frankfort Stewart's in May.