Sunbury couple seeks $300,000 in federal lawsuit against Sunbury officials

Mar. 18—WILLIAMSPORT — A Sunbury couple seeks $300,000 in damages in a federal lawsuit filed against Sunbury officials claiming abuse of power by the code department.

Thomas Wolfe and Melissa Snyder claim they suffered loss of reputation, emotional distress and discrimination in the lawsuit filed in the U.S. Middle District, in Williamsport, through their attorney Frank Kepner, of Berwick.

The suit claims Wolfe and Snyder purchased the home in the city in 2016 and made an agreement with the code department that the renovations would be a slow process because Wolfe had a number of surgeries.

Based on the understanding with the city, there would be no action taken against the couple for any violations that could occur while the renovations were being completed, the lawsuit claims.

In July 2021, the suit claims the couple received a nontraffic citation from the code department for failure to maintain weeds on the property.

Wolfe contacted the office and explained that his relatives were taking care of the property and cutting the lawn on a weekly basis and the weeds on the property were that of his neighbors, the suit claims.

The code department allegedly dropped the citation, the suit claims.

Later in July 2021, Wolfe went to the code department and signed a form stating that he had 90 days to complete a list of repairs, but Wolfe claims less than a month later he received a fine from the city for failure to keep the property in good repair.

The suit claims when Wolfe questioned why he was getting the fine, a code officer became rude and hostile and told him he would receive weekly fines until the property was removed from the public nuisance list.

Wolfe claims the city then began to fine him weekly for several weeks. Wolfe attended a hearing in October 2021 where three of the citations were dismissed, the suit claims.

Wolfe claims he then went to review the records on his property and he was met by two police officers outside of City Hall and was questioned on what he was doing, the suit claimed.

Wolfe said he went back inside City Hall to file a complaint on the officers and within minutes the officers came in and told Wolfe he was going to be arrested for trespassing in City Hall if he did not leave, the suit claims.

When Wolfe asked why he was going to be arrested, he was allegedly told he was making people uncomfortable, the suit claimed. Wolfe claims he was put in handcuffs and pushed to the counter. When police attempted to put his hands behind his back even though Wolfe told the officers he recently had shoulder surgery, he was injured and forced to have further surgery as a result of the actions of the police, according to the suit.

Wolfe claims he was shackled in a chair until medics were called and they determined Wolfe had been injured, the suit claims.

At that point, Wolfe was unshackled and was told he was free to leave, according to the federal lawsuit.

Wolfe claims he was charged with resisting arrest, defiant trespass and disorderly conduct but on Nov. 30, 2021, the charges were dismissed.

In June 2022, Wolfe said he received notice from the code office that Wojciechowski wanted access to the property for an inspection to look for violations, the suit claims.

Wolfe was told that if he refused access, it would bring another fine.

On July 18, 2022, Wolfe received a notice of blighted property, he claimed in the suit.

In August 2022, City Administrator Derrick Backer agreed to meet with Wolfe, the suit said.

A day later, the city posted a water shut-off notice on the window of the property even though there had been no water on the property for more than a year, the suit claims.

On Aug. 16, Wolfe met with Backer, and Code Supervisor Mike Rhoades and the property owner's private inspector. The suit claims Backer said there were no violations and the city agreed to drop all pending fines, the suit claimed.

Three days later, Wolfe said he received another fine.

Wolfe said he checked with the district judge's office and discovered that the previous fines were not dropped, the suit claimed.

Wolfe claims Backer entered his property even though the city was not given permission and officials were advised the owners did not want any city employee in the property without a warrant, according to the suit.

Wolfe and Snyder claim city officials were aware of the discriminatory conduct toward the owners, the attempts to intimidate and harass them and was condoned in the unconstitutional gross discrimination, the suit said.

Sunbury Mayor Josh Brosious declined comment, citing ongoing litigation.