A former Fawn supervisor who was sued for allegedly orchestrating the firing of a police officer was found guilty of harassing the officer at his new job in Armstrong County.

David A. Montanari, 64, of the 1600 block of Bull Creek Road in Fawn was issued a citation by Manor Township police Chief Christopher Robbins, who accused him of harassing one of his officers Aug. 1, according to a copy of the citation.

Montanari, who lost his bid to run for a fifth term when he was defeated in the 2021 spring primary, was accused of following Officer Keith F. Lazaron II in a public place after the officer warned Montanari to leave him alone, according to the citation.

Robbins also gave Montanari a traffic citation for following too closely.

Montanari was found guilty of both charges Wednesday during a summary trial before District Judge Kevin Lee McCausland, according to court records.

Montanari was ordered to pay fines totaling $494.50 — $347 for the harassment charge and $147.50 for following the officer too closely, court records show.

After Lazaron was suspended from his job as a Fawn police officer in June 2020, Montanari and two other supervisors voted to fire him for alleged misconduct.

The month before Lazaron was fired, he filed a federal lawsuit alleging he was unlawfully suspended without pay and brought up on charges because he refused to issue a citation against one of Montanari’s neighbors.

In the lawsuit, Lazaron contended that Montanari directed him to a home two lots away from the supervisor’s residence to cite the property owner for having an outdoor fire.

Lazaron said he did not issue a citation because he determined that the fire was not in violation of the law and was properly contained in a fire pit.

The lawsuit alleged that Lazaron and Montanari ran into each other 10 days later in the Fawn Municipal Building parking lot. The suit claims that Montanari told Lazaron that the next time he saw a fire on the neighbor’s property, he would not call the police but, instead, “just throw the (expletive) in the fire himself.”

Township officials accused Lazaron of changing the police report weeks after filing it to include information about Montanari’s alleged threat against his neighbor.

Lazaron asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed in a June 14, 2022, court filing, according to the docket.

Lazaron was hired by the Penn Hills School District in October 2022 on a five-year contract to run the safety programs at all of the district’s schools.

In January, the school board accepted Lazaron’s resignation. He was hired as a police officer in Manor Township and serves as the school resource officer at Lenape Technical School in addition to regular patrol duties.

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