Hanover man files federal suit against Northern Regional police over investigation

A Hanover-area man and his son have filed a lawsuit in federal court for the Middle District, Harrisburg, against the Northern York County Regional Police Department, several officers and Heidelberg Township for allegedly "failing to take action" to prevent unlawful conduct during an incident that occurred in 2022.

Richard Lewis Starks was originally charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, aggravated assault with an attempt to cause serious bodily injuries and one charge of aggravated assault with attempts to cause bodily injury with a deadly weapon.

During the second day of his trial before York County Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph C. Adams in April, each charge was dismissed after the prosecution understood it could not meet its burden beyond a reasonable doubt.

More: Trial begins in case of York County man accused of attempted murder in 2022

In 2022, Starks owned and operated of Paws Pet Resort located at 6876 Cannery Road, Hanover, Heidelberg Township, in York County. His son Christian managed the business.

On the morning of May 2, 2022, Starks called the Northern York County Regional Police Department at 8:55 a.m. after his son Christian notified him that a stranger (Ken Knight) had pulled into the business and allegedly threatened his customers and employees.

Knight, who testified at trial on April 3, 2024, told police he arrived at the farm with his camera to take photos of excavation work before he was confronted by someone at the Paws Pet Resort, just by the farm property.

Police arrive after several 911 calls

Northern York County Regional Police Lt. John Migatulski was the first officer to arrive at the scene, nearly one hour after the incident began, according to the suit.

He testified at trial on April 3 that it took him two to six minutes to respond to Paws from the NYCRPD station where he was located at the time of the incident and was later joined by NYCRPD Officer Steven Lebo and Sgt. Jack Asper.

Migatulski expressed during his testimony that he was dispatched to the scene in May 2022, after the dispatcher announced that shots were fired.

During opening statements at trial, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Justin Baran said the delay in police response was due to the confusion of the location of the incident, and whether it took place in York or Adams County.

Defense attorney Tom Kelley argued the NYCRPD failed Starks, as their substation was only a six-minute drive from the location of the scene.

Starks made several 911 calls that morning and was transferred from York County to Adams County to York County, upon learning that "his first call to 911 was not of record and no help was currently on the way," according to the suit.

More: Judge dismisses attempted murder, other charges against York County man 2 days into trial

Suit alleges NYCRPD investigation was 'inadequate'

According to the lawsuit filed in federal court on May 1, 2024, the NYCRPD failed to properly investigate and respond to the incident that occurred between the Starks' and Knight in May 2022.

The suit alleges law enforcement violated the Starks' constitutional rights through failing to train and supervise police officers on issues of "racial profiling, fabricating information, performing crime scene investigations," performing accident investigations, as well as "inadequately responding to citizen complaints causing financial, emotional, and reputational damages to Plaintiffs."

Throughout the investigation, the suit alleges, the vehicles involved in the incident were not thoroughly investigated.

Stark's Tesla and Knight's Cadillac were impounded as evidence; however, no attempt was made by law enforcement to download the Event Data Recorder Module (EDR) which could be downloaded from either the Cadillac or the Tesla, according to the suit.

Officer Steven Lebo, the affiant on the criminal matter, arrived on scene to collect evidence for an accident reconstruction that was never performed, according to the suit.

The suit also alleges that Knight made multiple statements to law enforcement that he took pictures with a camera during the incident, claiming that he took a picture of Starks pointing a rifle at him. However, "law enforcement never recovered a camera or retrieved any pictures or downloaded" from Knight's phone.

The suit alleges that Asper used racially discriminatory language when referring to Starks. The suit states that Asper instilled "prejudice and discriminatory views" in other police officers at the scene.

The suit alleges Asper made a "rush to judgment, based in racial discrimination," without properly examining evidence and caused a “whisper down the lane” taint to the whole investigation.

Northern York County Regional Police did not immediately respond to several requests for comment.

Starks seeks $150k in damages

In preparing his case, Starks spent over $150,000 in hiring experts, investigators, reconstructions, attorney fees and other items and services needed to prepare a proper defense.

Plaintiffs Richard Starks and Christian Starks each demand an amount in excess of $150,000 of damages against defendants to cover statutory damages, attorney’s fees.

In addition, the suit alleges Starks suffered "severe emotional distress" as a result of the defendants' "extreme and outrageous conduct" of malicious prosecution.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Hanover Pa. man files federal suit against Northern Regional police