A former Jeannette man on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the city and a police officer, contending he was the victim of a false arrest in July 2018.
Richard Berger, 53, now of Hempfield, in the two-count lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County said police acted without probable cause and with disregard for his rights when he was charged with five misdemeanor counts and three summary offenses in connection with allegations that he avoided apprehension during a burglary investigation.
In the lawsuit, Berger claims he was maliciously prosecuted on charges of fleeing and eluding police, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment, flight to avoid apprehension and trespassing, as well as several traffic offenses. On Jan. 28, 2020, Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger found Berger not guilty of all charges following a nonjury trial.
Berger was not charged with burglary.
In the the lawsuit, which in addition to Jeannette named Patrolman Thomas Yaniszeski as a defendant, lawyer Emily Smarto wrote that as part of the discovery process during the criminal case she received no evidence that an investigation was performed or any supporting information to show that a crime was committed.
“Yaniszeski acted without probable cause, demonstrated malice, ill-will, spite and wanton disregard for the plaintiff’s rights …,” Berger’s attorney alleged in the court filing.
Jeannette solicitor Timothy Witt, speaking for both the city and Yaniszeski, said he has not seen the lawsuit and could not comment on its allegations.
According to court records, Berger was spotted July 22, 2018, on an all-terrain vehicle near railroad tracks in Jeannette. When police attempted to question him as part of an investigation into a burglary that occurred nearby, he and an unidentified woman sped off, authorities said. In court documents, Yaniszeski claimed the driver he later identified as Berger skidded towards him and nearly struck his police car before he sped away through private property.
Police later located the driver and vehicle near Vale Street but reported he escaped again by driving the ATV through a creek.
Yaniszeski said the next day he again located the ATV and its driver, who did not wear a helmet, in a wooded area near 15th Street, but the man — who was then alone — refused orders to stay where he was and drove off.
According to court papers, Yaniszeski wrote he finally identified Berger through “interviews and investigation” as well as from a picture from the Pennsylvania Justice System network.
Smarto could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Berger, in the lawsuit, is seeking compensatory damages totalling at least $100,000 and claims, as a result of his arrest, he suffered lost work time, inconvenience, humiliation, degradation, consequential financial damages, mental anguish, depression, loss of ability to enjoy life and damage to his reputation. He is also seeking an unspecified amount as punitive damages.
