Ex-cop files suit after losing race for district judge
NEW HANOVER » A former township police officer who ran unsuccessfully for district judge is suing the township, the township manager, the police chief and his opponent charging them with damaging his reputation, costing himthe election and seeking lost wages and damages.
Dennis Psota, who served as a New Hanover police officer for 23 years, failed to unseat District Judge Maurice Saylor in the 2019 elections.
One reason he failed, according to his lawsuit, was his ongoing conflict with Police Chief Kevin McKeon.
The lawsuit accuses McKeon of submitting Psota’s name for a list
‘The Commonwealth has not taken any position regarding officer Psota’s credibility or his conduct in this matter.”
— Lawsuit quoting letter from Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele
of “dishonest” police officers despite it being unfounded and subsequently negated by the district attorney — and Saylor’s campaign of using that list to undermine Psota’s campaign for district judge.
The lawsuit also alleges Psota suffered damages under the “whistleblower law” for joining former officer Keith Youse in publicly speaking out last year against McKeon and Sgt. William Moyer. Both accused the chief and sergeant of making racist comments and vindictive behavior.
In June, the township released the results of an 11-month, $31,000 investigation of the allegations made by Youse and Psota that found no evidence to confirm any of the claims.
According to the lawsuit, things began to go bad for Psota after he informed Township Manager Jamie Gwynn in July 2017 that Moyer had submitted a time card for a block of time during which he allegedly took care of personal business and did no work for the township.
From that point forward, Psota endured a “pattern of harassment” from McKeon, including the chief telling other officers that Psota was “‘a rat’ who could not be trusted,” according to the lawsuit.
A month after alerting Gwynn to the time card matter, McKeon filed a complaint against Psota’s wife, who worked in a local bank at the time, “for not saying ‘hi’ to him,” according to the suit.
The next month, McKeon filed a complaint against Psota because he had allowed a horse trailer pulled over for a traffic violation to leave the scene, according to the lawsuit.
Psota described that incident to Media News Group last year and said itwas very hot that day and he only allowed the horse trailer to drive a short distance to the police station so the horses could be watered.
In October 2017, when Psota complained to a township supervisor about McKeon’s behavior, McKeon filed a disciplinary complaint against Psota, according to the suit.
And in March of 2018, according to Psota’s suit, McKeon “fabricated a story to the township manager” that Psota “wanted all orders in writing, which was not true.”
“The retaliation culminated in an incident on Nov. 20, 2018, inwhich Chief McKeon allegedly claimed officer Psota lied to him about his attendance at a speed trap” at the township recreation center off Hoffmansville Road.
Psota was ordered to meet another officer at the site, but when he arrived, the officer was not there. Psota subsequently determined that was because the other officer was offsite at another traffic stop, as evidenced by the ticket he issued at the stop, according to the lawsuit.
Video footage at the recreation center, which Psota has requested but the township will not release, would show Psota was at the recreation center as assigned. While Psota awaited the other officer’s return, Psota responded to a bank alarm in neighboring Douglass (Mont.) Township, the lawsuit says.
McKeon said Psota had never reported for duty and Psota asked for a meeting with a union representative, according to the suit. McKeon later said the information Psota provided at that hearing was false.
McKeon ultimately charged Psota with several offenses including neglect of duty, leaving duty post, insubordination and untruthfulness.
As the township moved to fire Psota in December 2018, Psota “decided to retire because he knew he wasn’t going to get a fair and unbiased hearing,” the lawsuit said.
Despite no adjudication on the matter, the lawsuit asserts McKeon and the township subsequently submitted Psota’s name tobe included on a “Brady” list, “as a law enforcement official not deemed to be a trustworthy witness,” according to the suit.
Psota believes this action, although unwarranted in his eyes, was done “intentionally, willfully, wantonly, maliciously with the intent to harm” Psota, the lawsuit asserts.
At the time, Psota was a candidate for the district judge seat in Gilbertsville and the lawsuit asserts the Brady list referral “was intentionally done to intentionally prejudice his electoral chances to win the seat.”
On April 5, 2019, the township received a letter from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office “dismissing all of the remaining summary cases in which (Psota) was involved before his retirement,” the lawsuit asserts.
“The township disagrees with the allegations and encourages readers to allow due process be given in court before making a complete judgment on the situation.”
— New Hanover Township Solicitor Andrew Bellwoar
An “attack mailer” used during the May 2019 primary election by “Friends of Maurice Saylor” cited the letter, even though Psota was not provided a copy from the district attorney’s office until October, according to the lawsuit.
In August 2019 the Montgomery County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 14 issued a letter indicating “the sole driving force for (Officer Psota’s) placement on the Brady list was his current political campaign” for judge, the lawsuit asserts. It was not until Oct. 18 that Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele wrote a letter indicating that the April 5 letter to McKeon “was ‘ not a negative determination concerning Officer Psota’s credibility’ and further stated that ‘the Commonwealth has not taken any position regarding officer Psota’s credibility or his conduct in this matter,” according to the suit.
Nevertheless, the same “attack mailer” used in the primary election was used again in the November 2019 general election, again citing “...allegations of dishonesty on the part of Officer Psota,” according to the suit.
On Election Day 2019, Psota showed Steele’s Oct. 18 letter to Saylor and told himit contradicted Saylor’s handout. However, Saylor continued to distribute the literature, the lawsuit says.
The suit also says Psota has lost at least one job opportunity at another police department because of the “Brady list” incident.
The lawsuit seeks lost wages and damages for losing the election and Psota’s “pain, suffering and humiliation.’
Specific amounts for damages are not indicated in the legal papers.
Asked for comment on the suit, Township Solicitor Andrew Bellwoar released the following statement: “The township received the complaint and has since turned it over to its insurance provider for legal defense. The complaint appears to be a collection of the same complaints the plaintiff raised previously, which were thoroughly reviewed and investigated in accordance with internal policies and procedures during the plaintiff’s employment. The township disagrees with the allegations and encourages readers to allow due process be given in court before making a complete judgment on the situation.”