A lawsuit filed against two former Girardville police officers and the borough’s former mayor alleges the two cops entered a home on false pretenses with their guns drawn.
According to the filing in the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Anita and Richard Carver were residents of an apartment at 397 Main St. in Girardville on May 8, 2022.
In their lawsuit, filed on May 7 of this year, the Carvers claim former police officers Jeremy Talanca and Brandon Gonzalez entered their home with guns drawn, responding to a report of loud music. They assert there was no loud music coming from their apartment at that time.
The Carvers further allege that the officers were acting on orders from Judith Mehlbaum, Girardville’s former mayor, who resigned earlier this year citing personal and health problems.
The Carvers say they asked the officers if they always entered homes with guns drawn for reports of loud music and claim that Talanca and Gonzalez conducted an illegal search of their home.
In a separate lawsuit filed by former Girardville Police Chief Fabrizio Bivona, Mehlbaum is accused of treating borough police officers as her personal security force, using them to target residents she disliked or deemed undesirable.
At the time of the May 2022 incident, the Carvers had been having disagreements with Mehlbaum.
In May of this year, Girardville suspended its police force entirely. Current Mayor Michael Zangari told The Canary it is unlikely to be reinstated.
Earlier this year, Talanca was arrested and charged with numerous fraud charges related to his business activity at a car dealership he owned in Berwick.
Following Bivona’s termination from the Girardville PD, Talanca was named Officer-in-Charge.
Talanca and Gonzalez are being sued by the Carvers as individuals. Meanwhile, Mehlbaum is being sued both as an individual and in her official capacity as mayor.
The Carvers are seeking compensatory and punitive damages from the lawsuit.
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Jj
June 26, 2024 at 7:32 pm
Everything in this lawsuit is a complete lie. These people were put up to this by that former idiot police chief because he told them to sue and the Borough will just settle and they can split the settlement.