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OCTOBER 10, 2025
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
Selbyville police officer sues Town, department, chief
Volume 22, Issue 41
FREE
Fall is in the air
By Kerin Magill Staff Reporter A Selbyville police officer has filed a lawsuit against the Town’s police chief, its police department and the Town itself. Lt. Michael Bruette’s lawsuit, filed Sept. 25 in Delaware Superior Court, claims that Police Chief Brian Wilson and the Selbyville Police Department treated him unfairly following his support for formation of a police union and his criticism of another officer. Wilson, the lawsuit alleges, “became determined to discipline Plaintiff and restrict his ability to effectively perform the essential duties of his position” in numerous ways in 2022 and 2023. The lawsuit alleges that Wilson denied Bruette a promotion, altered his schedule in adverse ways, restricted his access to areas necessary for him to perform his police duties and placed him on administrative leave without justification. Bruette is currently assigned as a school resource officer in Selbyville but See SUIT page A3
Special to the Coastal Point • Marian Dowling
It looks like this family has been stuck in traffic forever, but we swear the roads are at least a little less congested this time of year.
CIB battling Thompson Island erosion Redmon files appeal on sentence By Laura Walter Staff Reporter If only the waves didn’t hit the shoreline quite so hard... But with the right project, local leaders could reduce — or even reverse — erosion on Thompson Island. Located in the northern Rehoboth Bay, this 68-acre nature preserve is culturally, archaeologically and ecologically important to the Nanticoke Indian Tribe and to the State of Delaware. For the past few weeks, the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays (CIB) has managed installation of about 400 hollow concrete pyramids just offshore of the island. The roughly 3.5-foot “wave attenuation devises” (WADs) are arranged in two rows on the island’s
southeast side. Just like a coral reef might absorb heavy wave action, these WADs dampen wave energy, while still allowing water and wildlife to gently flow through. The calmer shoreline will reduce erosion and increase water clarity. It’s the complete opposite of rip-rap or a seawall, which are used like armor and merely reverse all of the wave energy, rather than dissipate it. “We call it a living shoreline [or] nature-based solution. What we’re trying to do is mimic nature,” said CIB Manager of Programs and Facilities Bob Collins. “The goal is to save and protect Thompson Island for generations — See EROSION page A7
By Susan Canfora Staff Reporter Former Bethany Beach police chief Michael Redmon — who, on Sept. 15, was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison for misappropriating funds — is appealing his sentence, according to a letter sent to the U.S. District Court by his attorney, John Malik of Wilmington. Malik — who did not return telephone calls from the Coastal Point — didn’t indicate what lesser sentence his client will be appealing for in a notice he sent to the Clerk of the Court in the U.S. District Court and to Assistant U.S. State’s Attorney Benjamin Wallace, both in Wilmington. “Please take notice that Defendant
Michael Redmon, by and through his attorney, John S. Malik, hereby appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from the judgment and commitment order of the Honorable Colm F. Connolly of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware dated Sept. 15, 2025. Please take further notice that Defendant Michael Redmon hereby appeals from his sentence as determined and imposed pursuant to the United States sentencing guidelines,” the notice states. Malik notified Wallace on Sept. 28. “No comment from the police department on this,” Bethany Beach Police Chief Patrick Foley told Coastal Point this week. See REDMON page A4