Off-duty trooper is charged for trespass and harassment

Joseph Kohut, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
Updated ·1 min read
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Jul. 7—An off-duty Pennsylvania state trooper pushed a neighbor in front of Olyphant police officers after he accused the man

of rolling through a stop sign.

Alex Douglass, 40, of Olyphant, grabbed Daniel Weston by his arm after he rang Weston's doorbell and pulled Weston from the doorframe, according to a criminal complaint.

Borough Officer Thomas Sakosky, who was summoned to the scene by Douglass, told the off-duty trooper to back off. After two orders, Douglass did.

Douglass is charged with a misdemeanor count of defiant trespass and a summary count of harassment stemming from the June 24 incident. A summons went out Monday from the court of Magisterial District Judge John P. Pesota.

Douglass is scheduled to appear in district court Aug. 2 for a preliminary hearing.

Douglass remains on full-time leave under the state Heart and Lung Act, state police spokesman Myles Snyder said. He is paid $106,406 a year, according to PennWATCH, a website that tracks state employees and their salaries.

Douglass suffered serious injuries in an ambush of the Blooming Grove state police barracks in September 2014 by Eric Matthew Frein.

Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II died in the attack.

Frein, now 40, was convicted in 2017 of first-degree murder and other offenses and was sentenced to death.

Efforts to reach Douglass for comment were unsuccessful.

Sakosky advised Douglass to stay off Weston's property and to refrain from handling traffic violations while off-duty.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, x5187; @jkohutTT on Twitter.