Ex-Millcreek police officer sues over county detective's search of his cellphone records

A former Millcreek Township police officer is suing an Erie County detective and the county, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights when the detective obtained a search warrant for his cellphone records in an investigation into a woman's complaint about him in 2023.

The woman alleged the officer engaged in official oppression. No criminal charges were filed in the case, according to court records.

The former officer, Herbert Lucas, sued on April 16 in U.S. District Court in Erie. The suit claims Erie County Detective Sgt. Joseph Spusta and the county of violating Lucas' Fourth Amendment rights when Spusta obtained a search warrant for all records associated with a phone number the suit states is Lucas'.

The search warrant was obtained in April 2023, when Lucas was still a member of the Millcreek Township Police Department, and the search warrant was initially sealed. Lucas resigned from the department in November, Police Chief Carter Mook said.

Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz, whose office includes the Erie County detectives, said Thursday that the office had not been served with the suit and she could not comment on the matter.

The suit claims that, as a result of Spusta's actions, Lucas suffered personal humiliation, mental anguish and documented aggravation of Lucas' preexisting post-traumatic stress disorder. The suit states that Lucas may be unable to work as a law enforcement officer due to his mental state, "which resulted from the actions of defendants described herein, and will suffer lost or decreased wages."

Lucas is suing for damages and requests a jury trial. Attorney Nicholas R. DiNardo, of Pittsburgh, represents him.

What led to the search warrant?

According to information in the search warrant, which is included as an exhibit in the suit filed, Spusta became involved in the investigation after a woman contacted the Millcreek Police Department on April 5, 2023.

Spusta wrote in the warrant's affidavit that the woman told him a friend had contacted her seeking Xanax pills, and the two agreed to meet. After the two failed to meet up at an agreed-upon location, the woman said she called her friend and told her she would meet her friend at her friend's house, Spusta wrote in the affidavit.

The woman said her friend told her not to go into her house, but the woman said she did anyway, according to the affidavit. After her friend arrived in a pickup truck driven by a man, the woman said her friend told her the woman would be arrested by the police officer in the truck if she did not leave, and the friend demanded the Xanax pills, Spusta wrote in the affidavit.

Later that day, according to the affidavit, the woman said she received a phone call from a man who said he was calling on behalf of the Millcreek Police Department. She said the caller told her she was facing felony charges for entering her friend's residence. The woman said she believed the caller was the man who was with her friend earlier, but the caller denied knowing the friend and stated he was dispatched to take the complaint from the woman's friend, Spusta wrote in the affidavit.

The woman said the caller told her he would touch base with the woman's friend to see if she wanted to pursue charges and would call the woman back. The woman said the man called back a short time later, told the woman that her friend did not want to press charges, and told her to have no further contact with the friend, Spusta wrote in the affidavit. The woman said she asked the caller for his name and badge number, and the man replied, "Lucas," and gave a badge and telephone number, according to information in the affidavit.

Spusta wrote that he learned through his investigation that Millcreek police received no complaint concerning an incident at the woman's friend's residence, that township police employed an officer Herb Lucas, and that the department never sent Lucas or any other Millcreek police officer to the address.

A day after the incident at the friend's residence, the woman told Spusta she received a call from her friend who told the woman to get 45 Xanax pills and 45 Adderall pills and give them to her or the woman would be arrested that day. The woman said she believed she was being blackmailed and contacted Millcreek police, according to information in the affidavit.

Suit claims failure to corroborate claims

The lawsuit claims Spusta displayed a reckless disregard for the truth by relying only on the woman's statements to substantiate probable cause to get the search warrant. The suit claims Spusta failed to take reasonable steps to confirm the woman's information and failed to investigate the woman's credibility or to inquire about the woman's history with her friend and the woman's drug use.

The suit also claims Spusta failed to request access to the woman's phone to confirm her allegations, and did not inquire with Lucas' colleagues or supervisors regarding the alleged criminal activity.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Ex-Millcreek officer files suit over search warrant for phone records