Federal jury throws
out false arrest case
BY JOSH DAVIDSON
Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — A Belford man’s allegations of false arrest and improper search against two township police officers was dismissed by a jury in federal court in Trenton.

The jury voted March 31 to throw out the lawsuit filed by Jay A. Pecyna, Belford, against the township, its police department and two police officers.

Pecyna’s lawsuit was a result of a motor vehicle stop on Route 26 on Nov. 11, 1999, in which he was arrested and charged with possession of a weapon.

Police approached Pecyna following a telephone call from an anonymous female accusing him of performing a lewd act in his Dodge pick-up truck, Township Attorney Bernard Reilly said.

Pecyna was previously convicted on a lewd conduct charge in Middletown in 1986 and was sentenced to pay a fine, Reilly said. The 1999 possession of a weapon charge was dismissed.

During the 1999 motor vehicle stop, police found a 15-inch Bowie knife in Pecyna’s truck.

"There was [also] a utility knife, but that wasn’t deemed to be a weapon," he said.

The police search of Pecyna’s vehicle was legal because Pecyna told them he had a weapon in the truck, Reilly said.

"They had the right to protect themselves by getting the weapon," he said.

Pecyna claimed in the lawsuit that the police officers were verbally abusive, causing him to admit he had a weapon.

"And that was all not true, and that’s essentially what the jury found — that all his claims about that issue were not true," Reilly said.

Federal law would have allowed Pecyna to recoup attorney and legal fees if he had won the case, Reilly said. The defendants can seek legal reimbursement on the grounds that Pecyna’s lawsuit was frivolous.

Reilly said he believes the $39,000 spent in legal fees should be awarded back to the defendants.