PHILADELPHIA – A malicious prosecution suit brought against the City of Lambertville, N.J., two of its public officials and a local contracting firm has been dismissed without prejudice, just one day after it was filed in a Pennsylvania federal court.
Academy Hill, Inc. and Merrick Wilson of Yardley first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on April 27 versus the City of Lambertville, New Jersey, its Zoning Officer Kenneth Rogers and its former Mayor David DelVecchio, plus Joseph Jingoli & Sons, Joseph Jingoli and Michael Jingoli of Lawrence Township, N.J.
“The claims set forth herein only arose upon dismissal of various Municipal Court complaints first lodged against the plaintiffs while David DelVecchio was Mayor of the City of Lambertville and employed by Joseph Jingoli and Sons, by and through Joseph Jingoli and Michael Jingoli,” the suit states.
“Defendant engaged in a deliberate, willful and sustained campaign to prosecute plaintiffs without any legitimate basis or probable cause with the intention of imposing possible incarceration, fines, costs or other remedies arising from defendant’s animus towards plaintiffs.”
The suit claimed the City “utilized its police powers to harass, humiliate and degrade the plaintiffs, causing plaintiff Wilson to endure psychological and emotional distress during defendant’s multi-year campaign of retribution and unconstitutional prosecution.”
The Municipal Court complaints in question, originally filed in 2011, were dismissed several years later for lack of jurisdiction.
“Kenneth Rogers in his capacity of Zoning Officer, individually and/or at the behest of Mayor DelVecchio, as well as other defendants, did institute one or more municipal court complaints when he knew or should have known that such complaints were without any basis in law as subsequently determined in a criminal court of law,” per the suit.
“Such action was undertaken for the purpose of harassing plaintiffs and/or imposing financial and other detriments upon the plaintiffs all in derogation of plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.”
According to an entry on the case docket, the case was dismissed without the prejudice the day after it was filed, on April 28.
Prior to dismissal and for multiple counts of malicious prosecution, constitutional rights violations, harassment and conspiracy, the plaintiffs were seeking damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees and cost of suit, such other relief as the Court deems just and equitable, plus a trial by jury.
The plaintiffs were represented by Michael T. Hollister of Rothberg & Federman, in Bensalem.
The defendants did not secure legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:21-cv-01920
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com