Former Wrightsville Beach police chief files wrongful termination lawsuit

According to the complaint filed in New Hanover County Superior Court on June 5, 2026, David Squires served as police chief from 2020 until his termination in July 2024. He previously worked for approximately 28 years with the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) and says he had a strong performance record before joining Wrightsville Beach. The lawsuit says Squires was promoted by VBPD to the rank of Captain and “consistently received positive performance evaluations throughout his time with the VBPD.”

The lawsuit claims Squires raised concerns that Wrightsville Beach’s parking enforcement system was issuing fines between $150 and $300—above the $50 limit outlined in North Carolina law. He alleges he reported the issue to town leadership but was met with resistance and pressure to maintain existing practices.

After raising the issue about the fines with Town Manager Tony Wilson, the lawsuit says Squires received a call from Bill Blair, the former Mayor of the Wrightsville Beach. The lawsuit says Blair “also maintained a business relationship with Pivot Parking, which was the company hired by the Town for parking, monitoring and enforcement.”

The lawsuit states, “Mr. Blair was upset and demanded to know if Plaintiff (Squires) had hired an attorney to investigate his business practices. He also admonished Plaintiff for sending his earlier email to Town Manager Wilson.”

The filing also describes internal disputes involving police investigations and interactions with town officials over high-profile incidents, including cases tied to private business interests and public scrutiny of police actions.

The lawsuit claims that on June 14, 2024, police officers responded to an incident involving an employee of Pivot Parking and two other people. The officers issued a citation to all three of them.

According to the lawsuit, Town Manager Wilson called the chief within an hour and “criticized the officers’ handling of the situation and told Plaintiff that the police should give ‘more weight’ to what the Pivot Parking employee had told the police and less weight to what the other individuals told the police.” The lawsuit goes on to say that Wilson was receiving calls from elected officials “expressing concern about this incident and that the Board of Aldermen were not happy with the situation.”

Squires claims he was urged to treat certain individuals differently and discipline officers despite a lack of evidence of wrongdoing.

Between May 5, 2024, and July 10, 2024, the lawsuit says Squires told the town attorney and the town manager that “there was no evidence that police officers who had responded to the May 4 incident had violated any public policy, rule, regulation, or law.”

In July of 2024, the May 4 incident was on the agenda to be discussed by the Board of Aldermen in a closed session. According to the lawsuit, Squires was not allowed to take part in the closed session which he deemed “unprecedented in his experience.”

The lawsuit says the clerk told Squires something along the lines of “sometimes in cases of this nature, somebody’s head has to roll.”

Squires says he followed legal guidance, upheld his oath as a law enforcement officer, and refused to take actions he believed were unlawful or improper. He alleges that his termination on July 10, 2024, came shortly after these disputes escalated.

The lawsuit says “Town Manager Wilson did not indicate that there was any issue with Plaintiff’s job performance nor that there was any allegation of misconduct outside of work that led to the termination decision.”

The lawsuit claims wrongful discharge in violation of North Carolina public policy and seeks damages for lost wages, emotional distress, and other losses. A jury trial is being requested.

WWAY reached out to the Town of Wrightsville Beach for comment regarding the allegations in the filing.