A man has sued the city of Wilkes-Barre, its police chief
and three police officers, claiming he was falsely arrested and imprisoned in
2010.
Paul S. Stolarik says in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District
Court that he was arrested for violating a temporary protection from abuse
order after returning to his residence on July 2, 2010, even though he was
never served with the order, was unaware of it and told police as much, the
lawsuit states.
According to court papers:
Upon Stolarik’s arrival at his residence at 15 N. Meade St.
on July 2, 2010, his father, John Paul Stolarik, who also lived there, refused
to allow him inside and called 911 under the mistaken assumption that a
temporary PFA he filed against his son earlier in the day was properly served
upon his son.
When Wilkes-Barre police officers Ed Casella and Kenneth
Jones arrived, Paul Stolarik told them he was unaware that a PFA was issued and
“made it clear to (them) that no PFA was served upon him.”
But rather than verify that information, the officers
arrested him, took him to police headquarters and turned him over to officer
Paul Crawford while they filed a charge of indirect criminal contempt of a
court order against him.
Stolarik was arraigned on July 3 on the alleged contempt
violation and jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of
$5,000 bail. He claims Casella and Jones led the district judge to believe that
a temporary PFA had been served on him and that they conspired to make untrue
statements to the district judge, including that Stolarik told 911 “that a PFA
was issued against him by his father.”
The charges resulted in Luzerne County Adult Probation
placing a detainer on Stolarik on July 6.
Stolarik was actually served with the temporary PFA order on
July 8, when he was transported to the Luzerne County Courthouse for a hearing
to determine if a permanent PFA order should be granted. Because of the lack of
prior service of the PFA, the hearing was continued to July 13 and was to be
combined with a hearing on the indirect criminal contempt charge.
At the July 13 hearing, the court dismissed the contempt and
PFA violation charges.
Police Chief Gerard Dessoye and the city also were named as
defendants in the lawsuit because it was the chief’s and city’s policy or
custom to leave acts of its employees to their own discretion, and failing to
ensure the police officers were properly trained, the lawsuit states.
Stolarik claims his constitutional rights guaranteed by the
Fourth and 14th amendments were violated, that he suffered physical injury,
emotional anguish and distress and other inflictions, as well as economic
damages from lost employment. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages