PHILADELPHIA – A sitting judge of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas asserts she was subject to civil rights violations and unlawful arrest and detention, when a Plymouth Township police officer used her vehicle as a barricade to stop a suspect they were chasing and was allegedly not disciplined for doing so.
Roxanne Covington of Philadelphia filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on April 16 versus the Plymouth Township Police Department and its Police Officer Douglas Wells, both of Plymouth Meeting.
“On Oct. 9, 2022, Judge Covington, a Judge of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, was operating her vehicle on Ridge Pike, in the direction towards Plymouth Meeting, when Officer Wells, traveling in the opposite direction towards Philadelphia on Ridge Pike, crossed the double yellow lines into the opposing traffic and drove towards Judge Covington, to slow her down. Judge Covington slowed down in response to Officer Wells, who then returned to his lane of traffic, stretched his hand out of his window, signaled Judge Covington to stop, and pulled up next to Judge Covington, stopping Judge Covington. Within seconds of Officer Wells stopping Judge Covington, Judge Covington was violently struck in the rear by a vehicle operated by a suspect that was being chased by other police officers,” the suit says.
“Officer Wells unlawfully stopped and detained Judge Covington, using Judge Covington's vehicle as a barricade to stop a suspect that was being chased by police officers. As Judge Covington reacted to the impact to see what just struck her vehicle, the passenger in her vehicle screamed, ‘He’s got a gun’, referring to Officer Wells who now had drawn his service weapon and pointed it in the direction of Judge Covington and the passenger in her car. Judge Covington yelled at her passenger to get down, after she saw from the passenger side view mirror, someone getting out of the passenger side of the vehicle that struck her and thought maybe there was going to be a shootout with police by occupants of that vehicle. Office Wells then came around Judge Covington’s vehicle from the front towards the vehicle that struck her.”
The suit adds that Judge Covington then “moved her vehicle, pulled into a driveway, moving out of the way of the police activity behind her and waited for Officer Wells or any of the other officers at the scene to approach her, but no one did.”
“After about 25 minutes of waiting, Judge Covington exited her vehicle and walked back to where the officers were standing behind the vehicle that struck her. She told them that the person they were chasing just struck her but none of the police officers came to her side; yet Officer Wells was very much aware of this because he stopped Judge Covington's vehicle to barricade the suspect. One of the officers responded that the person they were chasing was involved in a carjacking and kidnapping in Philadelphia that involved a 12-year-old. Judge Covington responded that that did not make it OK to use her car as the barricade to stop that vehicle. Judge Covington asked Officer Wells why he had stopped her, and why didn’t he use his police vehicle as the barricade to stop the suspect, but Officer Wells did not respond,” the suit states.
“Judge Covington gave the officers her business card, and one of the officers wrote the accident report number on the back of her business card, with the phone number to Whitemarsh Police Department to obtain the accident report. Judge Covington demanded and received Officer Wells’ business card. Plaintiff asserts that defendants violated Judge Covington’s constitutional rights of unlawful stop, unlawful arrest, unlawful detention and negligence by Officer Wells. Following this incident, Judge Covington, through her attorneys, filed a complaint against Officer Wells with PTPD Chief of Police John C. Myrsiades, on or about Nov. 11, 2022. Chief Myrsiades was the final decision-maker with regards to PTPD’s policies, practices and customs. However, neither PTPD nor Chief Myrsiades took any disciplinary actions against Officer Wells for violating plaintiff’s constitutional rights. PTPD failed to conduct a good faith and thorough investigation of plaintiff’s complaint submitted to Chief Myrsiades on Nov. 11, 2022.”
The suit contends that the Plymouth Township Police Department has had a “policy and or practice of civil rights violations of citizens by its police officers, thereby encouraging such unlawful acts by these police officers.”
“As a direct and proximate cause of the events initiated, perpetrated, and performed by defendants as aforesaid, Judge Covington has been injured and severely damaged. Such injuries and damages include, but are not limited to, physical and bodily injuries, emotional and physical harm, pain and suffering, loss of liberty, embarrassment and humiliation, sleepless nights, anxiety and depression, for which Judge Covington has had to incur great expenses to obtain medical and mental health professional treatment,” the suit says.
For multiple counts of violating constitutional rights under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, common law false arrest, false detention and common law negligence, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, expert fees and costs, expenses of litigation and such other and further relief as this Court may deem just and proper under the circumstances.
The plaintiff is represented by Olugbenga O. Abiona of Abiona Law, in Cherry Hill, N.J.
The defendants have not yet retained legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:24-cv-01571
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com