Valenti v. Sheeler, Civ. A. No. 89-7669.

Decision Date27 March 1991
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 89-7669.
Citation765 F. Supp. 227
PartiesSalvatore N. VALENTI and Paula J. Valenti v. Donald W. SHEELER, individually and in his capacity as Chief of Police of the Manor Township Police Department; Gary L. Strock, individually and in his capacity as Officer of the Manor Township Police Department; and Peter J. Savage, Jr., individually and in his capacity as Officer of the Manor Township Police Department.
CourtU.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Salvatore N. Valenti, pro se.

Paula J. Valenti, pro se.

Vincent A. Tucceri, Pittsburgh, Pa., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

HUYETT, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Salvatore and Paula Valenti, proceeding pro se, filed this civil rights action against defendants alleging violations of their rights under the fourth and fourteenth amendments of the United States Constitution. Plaintiffs also include in their complaint state law claims alleging false arrest, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. Defendants are the Chief of Police of the Manor Township Police Department, Donald W. Sheeler, and two police officers of the Manor Township Police Department, Gary L. Strock and Peter J. Savage, Jr.

The parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth below, I shall grant defendants' motion for summary judgment and deny plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment.

I.

Summary judgment is appropriate if there exists no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Small v. Seldows Stationery, 617 F.2d 992, 994 (3d Cir.1980). The court does not resolve questions of disputed fact, but simply decides whether there is a genuine issue of fact which must be resolved at trial. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510-11, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Ettinger v. Johnson, 556 F.2d 692 (3d Cir.1977). The facts must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and reasonable doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact is to be resolved against the moving party. Continental Insurance Co. v. Bodie, 682 F.2d 436, 438 (3d Cir.1982). However, "there is no issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party. If the evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. at 2511 (citations omitted). The inquiry is whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to the jury, or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. at 2512.

Because there is no disagreement with respect to the relevant facts, both parties agree that this matter should be decided by way of summary judgment motions.

II.

Plaintiffs' claims arise out of events that took place on October 29, 1987. On that date, Officers Strock and Savage went to plaintiffs' personal care facility in Mountville, Pennsylvania for the purpose of executing two warrants, one for Salvatore Valenti's arrest and one for inspection of the premises. The search warrant identified items to be searched and seized as updated information on residents living at plaintiffs' personal care facility and review of certain medical records. Probable cause was based on an October 16, 1987 order issued by the Commonwealth Court ordering the closing of plaintiffs' personal care facility. The arrest warrant for Salvatore Valenti was issued because he was operating a personal care home for adults without a license in violation of Pa.Stat.Ann. tit. 62, §§ 1002 and 1031. Plaintiffs' personal care facility was subsequently ordered closed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Upon his arrival at plaintiffs' personal care facility, Officer Savage informed Mr. Valenti that he had a warrant for his arrest and another warrant for inspection of the premises. Mr. Valenti permitted the officers access to the facility. Officers Strock and Savage entered the personal care facility accompanied by Department of Public Welfare ("D.P.W.") Officials Leslie Best and William Yovanovich. Officer Savage, Leslie Best, and William Yovanovich began searching the office records while Officer Strock stayed with Mr. Valenti.

Leslie Best requested information from Mr. Valenti concerning two new residents at his facility. Mr. Valenti, however, refused to answer any of Ms. Best's questions. Ms. Best saw Mr. Valenti's briefcase sitting on the floor and told Officer Savage that on prior visits she had found resident information in that briefcase. After Officer Savage assured Ms. Best that the briefcase was covered by the search warrant, she proceeded to look through the papers contained in Mr. Valenti's briefcase in search of the information which she had requested. Despite the fact that the Officers and D.P.W. Officials had a valid search warrant covering any information concerning residents living in plaintiffs' personal care facility and the fact that Mr. Valenti had refused to cooperate with Ms. Best thereby necessitating her search of his briefcase, Mr. Valenti went over to the table where Ms. Best was sitting and grabbed from her possession the papers from his briefcase. He then proceeded to run towards the back door of the facility with the admitted intention of placing the papers in his vehicle which was parked near the back door. Officer Strock ran after Mr. Valenti and grabbed him from behind. Rather than peacefully yielding to the police officer's authority and turning over the papers, Mr. Valenti continued to struggle with the officer in an attempt to break free from his grasp. During that struggle, Officer Strock collided with the kitchen counter and both men fell to the floor. While once again resisting the police officer's authority by attempting to get up and retrieve the papers that had scattered on the floor in front of him, Mr. Valenti struck Officer Strock in the nose.

After yet another brief struggle and after the officers pulled Mr. Valenti to his feet, Officers Strock and Savage arrested Mr. Valenti for assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. They transported Mr. Valenti to Manor Township Police Station where a criminal complaint was prepared and then to District Justice Herman's Office where Mr. Valenti was arraigned on charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest. Bail was set at $7,500.00. Because Mr. Valenti could not post bail, he was transported to Lancaster County Prison. He was later released from custody on November 3, 1987 after a friend posted bail on his behalf. On or about May 2, 1988, the Prosecuting Officer decided that he would not prosecute the charges against Mr. Valenti and made a formal nolle prosequi entry on the record.

III.
A. Federal Claims

Plaintiffs contend that Officers Strock and Savage are liable to Mr. Valenti for unlawful arrest, illegal seizure of his person, and illegal detention in violation of his federal constitutional rights under the fourth and fourteenth amendments.

To be constitutionally valid, a warrantless arrest must be supported by probable cause. Commonwealth v. Merriwether, 382 Pa.Super. 411, 555 A.2d 906, 910 (1989). Probable cause for a warrantless arrest exists when, "at the time of the arrest, the facts and circumstances within the officer's knowledge are `sufficient to warrant a prudent man in believing that the suspect had committed or was committing an offense.'" United States v. Glasser, 750 F.2d 1197, 1205 (3d Cir.1984) (quoting Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 91, 85 S.Ct. 223, 225-26, 13 L.Ed.2d 142 (1964)). In Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983), the United States Supreme Court adopted a "totality of the circumstances" approach to evaluating whether probable cause exists for the issuance of a search warrant. Id. at 230-241, 103 S.Ct. at 2328-34. The determination by a police officer that probable cause exists for a warrantless arrest is fundamentally a factual analysis that must be performed by the officer at the scene.

The ultimate finding of guilt or innocence, or dismissal of charges arising out of an arrest and detention has no bearing on whether the arrest was valid. Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 555, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 1218, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967). Otherwise, every time charges filed against an arrestee were dismissed or dropped, the police officers involved would be liable for false arrest or violations of the arrestee's civil rights. Id. The conduct alleged to constitute a deprivation of constitutional rights must have been unreasonable under the circumstances and facts known by the police officer at the time the conduct occurred.

Where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and where credibility conflicts are absent, the issue of probable cause may be resolved by summary judgment. Deary v. Three Un-Named Police Officers, 746 F.2d 185, 192 (3d Cir.1984). When it is appropriate to determine the issue of probable cause by summary judgment, it is the function of the court to determine whether the objective facts available to the officers at the time of the arrest were sufficient to justify a reasonable belief that an offense was committed or was being committed. United States v. Glasser, 750 F.2d 1197, 1206 (3d Cir.1984).

Officers Strock and Savage arrested Mr. Valenti for assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest in violation of 18 Pa.Cons. Stat.Ann. §§ 2702(a)(3) and 5104. Section 2702, entitled "Aggravated assault," provides in pertinent part:

(a) Offense defined. — A person is guilty of aggravated assault if he:
....
(3) attempts to cause or intentionally or knowingly causes bodily injury to a police officer or firefighter in the performance of duty....

Section 5104, entitled "Resisting arrest or other law enforcement," provides as follows:

A person commits a misdemeanor of the second degree if, with the intent of preventing a
...

To continue reading

Request your trial
11 cases
  • Telepo v. Palmer Tp., Civ.A. 97-6053.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    • February 26, 1999
    ...of an underlying police detective, who the court found had not violated plaintiff's constitutional rights); Valenti v. Sheeler, 765 F.Supp. 227, 232 (E.D.Pa. 1991) (finding that defendant Chief of Police was not liable for failure to train or adequately supervise where the court concluded t......
  • Pansy v. Preate
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania
    • October 6, 1994
    ...(3rd Cir.1993) (citing Kelley v. General Teamsters, Local Union 249, 518 Pa. 517, 544 A.2d 940, 941 (1988)); See also Valenti v. Sheeler, 765 F.Supp. 227 (E.D.Pa.1991). If any of these elements cannot be proven the malicious prosecution claim cannot prevail. The Defendants do not dispute th......
  • DiNicola v. DiPaolo
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania
    • January 9, 1996
    ...that favorable termination of the criminal proceedings is not an element of a false arrest claim. See, e.g., Valenti v. Sheeler, 765 F.Supp. 227, 231 (E.D.Pa.1991) (two elements of false arrest/false imprisonment are (1) the detention of the person and (2) the unlawfulness of that detention......
  • Kis v. County of Schuylkill
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    • October 25, 1994
    ...must fail if it is found that the police officers that the employer supervised had probable cause to arrest. Valenti v. Sheeler, 765 F.Supp. 227, 232 (E.D.Pa.1991) (Chief of police not liable for failure to train when police officers not found personally liable). As we noted above, an offic......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT