Oct 22, 2013 3 min read

The former police chief of Hanover Township has filed two petitions with Washington County Court, asking that the court review the decision by a majority of supervisors to fire him and also consider the case under the Police Tenure Act.

Four supervisors – Chairman Kevin Lemmi, David Duerr, Herbert Grubbs and Donald Winkler – concurred in September that James Geho should be terminated. Abstaining was Vice Chairman James Donohue II, who filed a federal civil suit against the township, Geho and a part-time officer, claiming he, his son and his nephew were falsely arrested in 2008. The matter was settled without a trial for $550,000.

The three men were charged with intimidating a witness and using a pipe bomb to blow up a neighbor’s mailbox. The case was thrown out of Washington County Court in 2009 for lack of evidence. James Donohue II, former Hanover fire chief, was elected to the board of supervisors in 2011. He also was a witness at Geho’s due process hearing.

Geho had been on suspension since April 2012, and the township held due process hearings in October and November last year.

“As a result of overzealous and improper police action initiated and supervised by Geho, the township and its insurer paid out nearly $650,000 to settle claims brought by individuals for illegal detainment and arrests, among other things. This led to an increase in insurance premiums, which caused the township to disband its police force entirely until coverage could be found,” stated the township’s findings of fact from the hearings, as compiled by attorney David J. Montgomery.

Geho testified at the hearings on his own behalf and presented two witnesses.

According to the petition filed Monday, the township also alleged that in the spring of 2008, a large number of people were apprehended for underage drinking, and that on his own initiative, Geho, without authorization from the township or county, placed the juveniles in an unauthorized “juvenile program.”

At the chief’s direction, the juveniles were driving township vehicles, including large dump trucks, without supervision, without insurance and without proper licensing, the township said.

“The chief’s actions exposed the township to liability and criticism and essentially prevented the township from pursuing fines or otherwise prosecuting the individuals,” according to the findings of fact.

Hanover Township is home to First Niagara Pavilion, where police made many arrests for public drunkenness, fights, underage drinking and drugs. Some of the arrests resulted in lawsuits against the township.

The court has not set a hearing date to consider Geho’s appeals. He claims the township did not follow proper procedures in his dismissal, that his state and federal constitutional rights were violated, and that the termination decision was not based on facts of record.

His Pittsburgh attorney, Colleen Ramage Johnston, did not return a call for comment.

Geho is seeking a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages.