A City of Duquesne police officer is suing Rostraver, its former police chief and a detective, claiming they arrested him without probable cause and cost him a job at the Elizabeth Township Police Department.
Michael Kemple filed the complaint Tuesday in federal court alleging civil rights violations, including that the Rostraver police acted maliciously or with a reckless disregard for his rights.
It names as defendants Rostraver Township, former Rostraver police Chief Jay Christner and Rostraver Det. Raymond Dugan. Also named as defendants are North Huntingdon Township and an unnamed official there.
Messages left with the solicitors for Rostraver and North Huntingdon were not immediately returned on Wednesday.
Kemple previously worked as an officer in North Huntingdon, the lawsuit said, and his wife, Sarah Layton, continues to work for that municipality.
Kemple left North Huntingdon police in April 2023.
According to the complaint, on April 10, 2023, Kemple met Layton, who was then his girlfriend, in a Sheetz parking lot on Route 51 in Rostraver to discuss their relationship.
They both remained in their respective vehicles, parked parallel to one another, talking for about 10 or 15 minutes.
“At no time did either plaintiff or Sarah Layton exit their vehicles during their brief conversation,” the lawsuit said.
They then both left in their vehicles.
The next day, according to the complaint, Layton spoke about their meeting at work at North Huntingdon in front of a “supervisory employee with policy making authority.”
The lawsuit identiffies the employee only as John Doe.
The complaint alleges that that man, “motivated by malice,” then contacted the Rostraver police chief.
“In his conversation with Jay Christner, John Doe told the chief that the plaintiff had physically struck Sarah Layton in the parking lot of Sheetz the night before.”
The man insisted, according to the lawsuit, that the Rostraver police charge Kemple with assault.
The chief directed Dugan, his detective, to arrest Kemple, the lawsuit continued, even though there was no probable cause.
The complaint alleges Dugan never obtained Sheetz surveillance video of Kemple’s meeting showing he did not strike Layton.
Still, the complaint said, Dugan summoned Layton to the Rostraver police department, where she told him Kemple did not hit her.
“Det. Dugan told (her) that he did not believe her, and that he was of the belief that the plaintiff struck (her),” according to the lawsuit.
On April 13, 2023, Dugan asked Kemple to report to the Rostraver police department, which he did, where he was arrested and charged with assault and harassment.
After Kemple’s attorney obtained the surveillance video, Dugan dropped the charges, the lawsuit said.
However, under Pennsylvania law, a police officer who has been arrested cannot have their record expunged, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges that Kemple lost a potential job with Elizabeth Township over the arrest, although he was hired by Duquesne.
Kemple claims in the complaint that his economic potential has been substantially reduced by the arrest, and that he is unlikely to be hired in departments that pay significantly more than Duquesne.