A Dallas-based contractor has filed a lawsuit against Harveys Lake Borough alleging his rights were violated in August of 2022, when he was arrested on false charges, according to court records.
Jerry Brown, of Maple Tree Road, Dallas Township, filed the civil lawsuit in August against Harveys Lake Borough, Mayor Michael Rush, Chief of Police Charles Musial, individually, Officer Greg Johnson, individually, and Luzerne resident Manny Santayana, who is a property owner in the borough.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants “conspired” to deprive Brown of his rights when he was arrested in August of 2022 for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars worth of building materials from Santayana, who had hired Brown in February of 2021 to build a dock and house on his lakeside property.
Santayana terminated Brown’s services in December of 2021. The termination letter, as stated in the lawsuit, said that Brown was let go because the contract had expired and that the retaining wall he constructed on the property failed a third inspection.
Brown claims that those materials were either already installed or Santayana had not paid for them and they did not belong to him, and that their contract did not contain any terms regarding materials.
The charges against Brown were ultimately dropped on December of 2022.
According to the lawsuit, Brown claims that Santayana filed the false police report as “retribution” against former Harveys Lake Zoning Officer Maureen Oremus, who had issued a stop work order on Santayana’s property in April 2022, following his termination of Brown’s employment.
Oremus is the girlfriend of Brown and was at the center of much controversy in Harveys Lake in recent years, when she was accused at several council meetings by residents, including Santayana, of giving Brown special treatment when it came to building projects in the borough.
Santayana later filed a lawsuit against Oremus in December 2022, in which he alleged that she shut down a job site on his property, interfered with construction on an improper basis, and purposefully withheld a piling certification for personal reasons.
The lawsuit was eventually settled by the borough’s insurance carrier.
Oremus was replaced as Zoning Officer in January of this year, following a state ethics investigation that found she was in violation of the state Public Official and Employee Ethics Act after failing to file several years’ worth of Statements of Financial Interest (SFI) and for backdating those forms to give the impression they were filed on time.
Oremus has continuously denied the claims made against her, telling the Times Leader back in January that her behavior was “100% ethical” and that she did not lie to or collude against the people of Harveys Lake.
The lawsuit alleges that Mayor Rush and Chief Musial sought to “punish” Brown for he and Oremus’s alleged behavior and in an effort to avoid further scandal.
Chief Musial did not conduct a thorough investigation of Santayana’s claims and that the affidavit of probable cause included “several material omissions and fabrications,” the lawsuit stated.
According to previous Times Leader reporting, the initial criminal complaint against Brown stated that the contract signed by both parties states that the contractor may not substitute materials without the written consent of the owner, and that any extra or oversupplied materials not needed to complete the job belong to the owner, unless prior written agreements were made.
Furthermore, Mayor Rush was “recklessly indifferent” to Brown’s constitutional rights, the lawsuit claims.
Brown suffered “tremendous damage” as a result of the alleged actions by the defendants and his reputation and business have been tarnished, court records state.
Brown is seeking at least general damages, special damages, consequential damages, lost profits, plus interest and delayed damages.
Harveys Lake responded to civil suit on Aug. 27, demanding a jury trial.
The borough was the subject of an FBI probe in October of last year, but it’s unclear at this time what the findings of that investigation were.
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