Watson v. Haverford Twp. Police Dep't
Decision Date | 24 May 2012 |
Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 10-6731 |
Parties | JANET WATSON and WILLIAM WATSON, Plaintiffs, v. HAVERFORD TOWNSHIP POLICE DEPARTMENT, THE TOWNSHIP OF HAVERFORD, CARMEN D. PETTINE, HARVEY PIKE, STEVEN GILL, and JOHN PILI, Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Presently before the Court are (1) the Motion by Plaintiffs Janet Watson and William Watson for Partial Summary Judgment on Count I of the Complaint Against Defendant Officers Pike and Gill, and (2) the Motion by Defendants Haverford Township, Police Department, Township of Haverford, Harvey Pike, and Steven Gill (collectively the "Haverford Defendants" or "Defendants") for Summary Judgment. For the following reasons, Plaintiffs' Motion is granted and Defendants' Motion is granted in part and denied in part.
The present action concerns the alleged unlawful arrest and imprisonment of Plaintiff Janet Watson by members of the Haverford Township Police Department. Mrs. Watson was sixty-two years old on November 17, 2008, the date of the incident in question. Dep. of Janet Watson () , 7:24-8:1, 16:9-13, Dec. 9, 2011.) Her husband is William Watson. Frances Tornetta, Mrs. Watson's mother, lives with Plaintiffs in their home, and is currently eighty-eight years old. (J. Watson Dep. 10:6-17, 102:19-24.) For the past twenty to twenty-five years, the Watsons have resided at 54 Upland Road in Havertown, Pennsylvania. (Id. at 8:2-19.) At all times relevant to this dispute, and prior to Plaintiffs occupying their Upland Road residence, Defendant John Pili and his wife Donna resided at 50 Upland Road, next door to Plaintiffs. (Id. at 19:1-7.) Mr. Pili is a Code Enforcement Officer for Haverford Township. (PSUF ¶ 9.)
For years prior to the incident in question, the Pilis and the Watsons had a long-standinghistory of animosity between them. (Defs.' Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 2, Documents Relating to Neighbor Disputes.) Shortly after the Watsons moved in, sometime in 1987, the Pilis demanded that they remove an oak tree from their yard. (J. Watson Dep. 23:6-24:21.) Thereafter, the Pilis sent anonymous letters to the Watsons complaining, among other things, that Mr. Watson's car engine was too noisy in the morning. (Id. at 25:2-26:8, 32:16-24:20.) This history of disputes between the parties continued and ranged from complaints about a tree limb from the Watson's property encroaching on another neighbor's house (id. at 37:13-42:8), to allegedly invalid citations issued by Mr. Pili to Mrs. Watson's mother who lived down the street at the time, (id. at 42:13-43:12), to Mr. Pili's father-in-law trespassing into the Watsons' yard to prune trees, (id. at 43:16-45:12), to the Pilis putting up surveillance cameras facing the Watsons' house with signs saying "what goes around comes around," or "I see you 24/7." (Id. at 45:13-46:18.)
The events giving rise to this lawsuit occurred on November 17, 2008, when Mrs. Watson was using a gas-powered blower to blow leaves in her yard. (Id. at 21:6-22:7.) According to Mrs. Watson, she was blowing leaves into a pile, collecting them in the rear bag of her lawnmower, and putting them in a plastic trash bag for collection. (Id.) There were purportedly no leaves between her house and the Pili's house. (Id. at 21:21-22:1.) According to John Pili, however, when he arrived home from work at 4:30 p.m. that day, Mrs. Watson was blowing leaves onto his property. (Defs.' Mot. Summ. J., Aff. of John Pili () ¶ 6, Mar. 30, 2012.) Donna Pili, Mr. Pili's wife, also observed Mrs. Watson blowing leaves and debris down her driveway and onto her property. (Defs.' Mot. Summ. J., Aff. of Donna Pili () ¶ 6, Apr. 2, 2012.) Mrs. Watson unequivocally denied blowing any leaves onto their property. (J. Watson Dep. 57:7-11, 114:4-13.) Mr. Pili allegedly asked Mrs. Watson to stop her actions, butshe did not respond. (J. Pili Aff. ¶ 7.) Accordingly, Mr. Pili went into the house to call the police. (D. Pili Aff. ¶ 9.)
Haverford Police Officer Harvey Pike was the first to arrive at the scene. He was dispatched to the location where, upon arrival, he observed Mrs. Watson actively blowing her leaves onto her neighbor's lawn. .) Officer Pike did not know and had never met the Watsons or Pilis before this date. (Pike Dep. 16:2-9.) A few minutes later, another Haverford Police Officer, Defendant Steven Gill, pulled up in front of the homes, but he remained in his car doing unrelated paperwork. (Defs.' Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 5, Dep. of Harvey Gill ("Gill Dep."), 12:19-14:2, Feb. 24, 2012.) Officer Pike first approached Donna Pili and asked her for identification, which she produced from her house. (D. Pili Aff. ¶¶ 12-13.) She then explained her version of the events to Officer Pike. (Id. ¶ 14.) Subsequently, he went over to Mrs. Watson. (Id. ¶ 15.) Mrs. Watson indicated that she was "startled" to see a police officer there and she was having difficulty turning off the blower. (J. Watson Dep. 22:8-16.) According to Officer Pike, Mrs. Watson purposely did not turn off the leaf blower, and in fact revved the engine when Officer Pike began to try to talk to her. (Pike Dep. 17:18-18:9.) Officer Pike allegedly said, "You have a problem with your neighbor" to which Mrs. Watson replied, (Id. at 22:16-21.) Officer Pike then asked if she drove, and when she answered that she did, he asked her to get her license. (J. Watson Dep. 60:20-24; Pike Dep. 19:21-3.) When Mrs. Watson questioned why the Officer wanted her license, he responded that this was an official police investigation and stated, "[I]f you don't show me your license, I'm going to arrest you."(J. Watson Dep. 62:2-13; Pike Dep. 20:5-11.) After repeatedly objecting, Mrs. Watson eventually shut off the leaf blower, told the Officer that her license was in the house, and walked into the house. (J. Watson Dep. 62:23-63:9; Pike Dep, 21:5-24:5.) He described her as "uncooperative," "confrontational," and "argumentative." (Id. at 25:19-27:3.) Mrs. Watson, in turn, described him as "aggressive." (J. Watson Dep. 61:20-62:16.)
After this discussion, Mrs. Watson entered her house through the back door and closed the door behind her. (Defs.' Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 4.) When she got into the house, however, Mrs. Watson called her county commissioner, Mario Olivia, because he knew of the ongoing neighborhood dispute. (J. Watson Dep. 64:13-17.) She managed to get a hold of him and explain the situation, but he simply said he would look into it. (Id. at 64:23-65:7.) She did not feel that that was a satisfactory response, so she called 9-1-1. (Id. at 65:7-21.) In the meantime, Officer Pike went to the back door of the Watsons' residence and knocked on the door, announcing himself as police. (Pike Dep. 30:14-31:9.) While Mrs. Watson was on the phone, Mrs. Watson's mother, Frances Tornetta, opened the door. (Id. at 31:10-16; Pl.'s Mot. Summ. J., Ex. E.) He told Ms. Tornetta that he was looking for the lady who just came into the house, and she replied that it was her daughter, invited him in, and directed him to the kitchen. (Pike Dep. 31:18-32:17.) As Mrs. Watson was speaking with the 9-1-1 operator, she heard Officer Pike tell her to hang up the phone. (J. Watson Dep. 67:2-4.) He again requested her for identification, but she refused to give it to him. (Pike Dep. 36:2-5.) According to Officer Pike, Mrs. Watson again walked over and picked up the phone to call 9-1-1. (Id. at 39:19-40:24.) Officer Pike then received a radio message asking if he was okay, to which he responded that dispatch should send another car since he was going to arrest Mrs. Watson. (Id. at 40:17-24.)At this point, Officer Gill also received a radio message to come into the house through the rear door, which he promptly did. (Gill Dep. 14:18-15:14.) After Mrs. Watson again disregarded Officer Pike's orders to hang up the phone, he then took the phone from her ear and either placed it on or threw it across the kitchen counter. (J. Watson Dep. 67:4-7; Pike Dep. 43:22-45:17; Gill Dep. 19:8-20.) He told her that if she did not give him her license, he was going to arrest her. (J. Watson Dep. 70:7-12.) When Ms. Tornetta asked what the license had to do with Mrs. Watson being outside raking leaves, Officer Pike stated something to the effect of, "[I]f you don't shut up, I'll take you in as well." (Id. at 70:13-18; Pike Dep. 46:2-5.)
At that point, Officer Pike ordered Mrs. Watson to put her arms behind her back so he could handcuff her. (Gill Dep. 19:21-24.) Instead, she put her hands together in front of her body to prevent her wrists from being cuffed. (Pike Dep. 46:21-47:3; Gill Dep. 21:17-19.) Officer Pike then grabbed her and proceeded to handcuff her by use of force with help from Officer Gill. (J. Watson 70:20-22, 71:17-72:17; Gill Dep. 21:20-22:3; Pike Dep. 52:4-14.) Mrs. Watson purportedly told Officer Pike that he was hurting her, but he did not reply. (J. Watson 74:16-24.) She also asked to be allowed to put on her shoes and coat, and Officer Pike stated that she did not need shoes where she was going. (J. Watson Dep. 75:7-76:9.) The two officers then purportedly picked her up under her arms and either walked or dragged her down the whole length of the driveway to the police car. (J. Watson Dep. 76:11-22; Pike Dep. 52:21-53:11; Gill Dep. 25:22-27:8.) Mrs. Pili stated in her affidavit that she observed Mrs. Watson coming out of her house in handcuffs being escorted by two officers, that she was struggling and trying to get out of the handcuffs, and that she was wearing her shoes but no coat. (D. Pili Aff. ¶¶ 21-23.) When they got to...
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