State trooper set for hearing on assault charges
NEW GARDEN >> A Pennsylvania state trooper who allegedly punched a man suspected of drunk driving while the man was handcuffed in a patrol car, an encounter captured on video, faces a preliminary hearing this week.
John Robert Sromovsky of Upper Chichester was charged by state police and Chester County Detectives in January with simple assault, official oppression, terroristic threats — all misdemeanors — and summary charges of harassment in connection with an incident that occurred in September during a traffic stop by another trooper.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, a man named Lorenzo Lopez was stopped and taken into custody on suspicion of DUI, as well as resisting arrest and related offenses. Lopez was handcuffed with his hands behind his back in the passenger seat of a patrol car. Sromovsky, who was on duty and in uniform but who was not the investigating officer, allegedly struck Lopez in the face while he was inside the car. Portions of the encounter were captured on video.
“What (expletive deleted) are you crying for, huh?” Sromovsky reportedly asked Lopez, 25, of Wilmington, an undocumented immigrant who is also known as Augustine Peleayz. “I’ll give you a reason to cry (expletive)!”
Sromovsky, 34, originally from Kingston, Luzerne County, has been a trooper since November 2007. He was assigned to the Avondale barracks in May 2008. He is currently free on bail pending trial, but has been suspended without pay, according to a state police spokesman.
He is represented by defense attorney Christian Hoey of Paoli, who could not be reached for comment.
His preliminary hearing is set for Friday before Magisterial District Judge Matthew Seavey of Avondale.
The details of the incident were included in an arrest affidavit filed by Sgt. Gerard McShea of the state police Bureau of Integrity and Professional Standards — also known as Internal Affairs — and Sgt. Thomas Goggin of the county detectives filed Jan. 27.
The affidavit states that Lopez was stopped at about 10 p.m. on Sept. 9 by state Trooper Andrew M. Revels at the intersection of Gap Newport Pike (Route 41) and First Street in Avondale on suspicion of DUI. He was later charged with that crime and resisting arrest, and was eventually sentenced to 30 days to six months in prison on the DUI charge.
The investigators stated that Lopez was handcuffed with his hands behind him in a police vehicle, in the front seat. At 10:21 p.m., as he sat in the passenger seat of the car, Sromovsky opened the front driver side door and began speaking to Lopez. The encounter was captured on the car’s Mobile Video Recorder (MVR).