Former North Braddock cop files whistleblower suit against borough, police
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A former North Braddock police officer is suing the borough, council members, the mayor, its police department and acting police chief in federal court over his June 18 firing. The officer, Ryan Johnston, is alleging civil rights, whistleblower and wiretap violations.
Johnston claims he was cooperating with federal and Allegheny County investigators who were probing the way the police department and acting police Chief Isaac Daniele handled evidence at the police station, according to the lawsuit.
North Braddock officials declined comment through borough solicitor John Bacharach. Daniele didn’t respond to messages for comment.
The lawsuit describes the following series of events from Johnston’s point of view:
In January 2019, Johnston was shown video by colleagues that shows Daniele stealing departmental evidence. In April, he was interviewed by two FBI agents about the department’s evidence procedures. Johnston said he was also told by Allegheny County District Attorney’s office prosecutors that Daniele was being investigated.
Johnston reported allegations to the DA and shared the information with FBI agents One allegation involved a case in April and May where 3.6 pounds of marijuana seized during an arrest was never sent to a lab, despite Daniele’s insistence that it had.
In May, Johnston made what the lawsuit characterized as a generic comment about an outside investigation to gauge Daniele’s reaction, after which Johnston became convinced Daniele was breaking the law. After that conversation, a new lock on the evidence locker was installed and a doorbell camera was put in that illegally recorded conversations in the station. ,
On June 4, according to the lawsuit, Daniele told Johnston he was being removed from the duty schedule because Johnston was being accused of tampering with evidence. Johnston was fired at a June 18 borough council meeting.
Johnston received a termination later in the mail on June 21. He attempted to appeal the decision because it violated the process spelled out in the police contract.
Johnston’s lawsuit alleges that his civil rights were violated, the borough’s actions violated the police contract, and that he was fired because of fabrications made by Daniele because Johnston was a whistleblower who was cooperating with county and federal agents.
The U.S. Attorney’s office, FBI and Allegheny County District Attorney’s office declined comment about whether there were any investigations into Daniele or North Braddock police.