Gilpin man files suit claiming mistreatment by police, DA, township

A Gilpin man alleges a pattern of mistreatment and humiliation by local law enforcement over a five-year period in a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Pittsburgh.

Dennis Kreashko, 59, names Gilpin Township, Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department and the Armstrong County District Attorney’s Office as defendants in the federal civil rights case.

“They have it out for me,” Kreashko said. “I’m going to teach them a lesson.”

Representatives from each of the defendants declined to comment, saying they had yet to review the complaint. John Newborg, Kreashko’s attorney, did not respond to requests for comment.

The suit alleges Kreashko was targeted with a series of traffic stops and searches by the Gilpin Police Department, which became part of the Southern Armstrong department in 2022.

In one instance related to a 2017 drug arrest, Kreashko claimed that police had an acquaintance swap the license plate of his Pontiac Grand Am with a stolen plate. The suit goes on to allege that several “bb” guns and an antique pistol were unlawfully seized from his home along with clearly marked “play money,” which police later misrepresented to the media.

The lawsuit also includes claims that police ignored Kreashko’s reports of a man burglarizing his home and damaging property, only arresting the man after a neighbor raised the issue.

It lists more alleged wrongdoing by police related to a dismissed corruption of minors charge from 2022, which arose after a teen girl staying with Kreashko tested positive for multiple drugs.

While held at Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in Pittsburgh, the girl said Kreashko supplied her with the drugs, according to the suit, which alleges that police coerced her into the statement.

Kreashko is seeking damages for “suffered embarrassment, humiliation, loss of freedom, mental anguish, suffering and emotional pain.” If successful, the lawsuit wouldn’t be the first time Kreashko got a payout from police.

In March 2013, Kreashko and his wife sued then Leechburg police Chief Mike Diebold and state police Cpl. Dan Herr for harassment and stalking charges. Leechburg paid $4,000 and state police paid $1,000 to settle the case in August 2013.