CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. (WJAC) — A police officer fired from the State College Police Department two years ago is now working for the Johnstown Police Department.
Now, he's at the center of a $1.2 million federal lawsuit for allegedly assaulting a man during a traffic stop in Johnstown.
According to court documents, Johnstown Police got a call for a "weapons incident" on March 29th of this year.
When Officer Joseph Scharf responded, the arrest affidavit says he conducted a traffic stop and started questioning occupants in the vehicle.
It says Shannon Greene was in the car, and that Officer Scharf ran checks on him, finding that Greene had a warrant out for his arrest.
Officer Scharf writes in the affidavit that he tried to take Greene into custody, but that Greene resisted and tried to pull his arms away.
"Greene refused commands to comply and this affiant then took Greene to the ground...After about a minute and a half of fighting with Greene he was finally handcuffed," Scharf wrote in the affidavit.
The affidavit says that when arrested, Greene was searched, finding multiple knives and drugs including heroin and cocaine.
Following the incident, Greene filed a federal lawsuit against Officer Scharf, a second officer, and the Johnstown Police Department.
Greene says his rights were violated during the arrest.
Greene wrote that he was pulled out of the vehicle by Scharf, was punched, choked to "almost unconsciousness," and thrown against the police car.
In the lawsuit paperwork, Greene named a second officer as a bystander to the alleged actions by Scharf.
Greene's wrote that he "suffered bruising and a forehead laceration, chipped tooth, concussion, vertigo, blurred vision, extreme headaches, and possible vertebrae damage."
The lawsuit says Greene is asking for $1.2 million for "possibly lifelong physical damages."
Greene says he can provide video evidence of his arrest.
Court documents -- obtained by 6 News -- say that Officer Scharf was terminated from the State College Police Department on December 3rd, 2020.
In the legal back and forth, State College PD officials write, "The borough terminated Scharf after investigation of three internally generated complaints regarding his performance."
The also note that Scharf had a disciplinary history and had violated department policies.
That legal case continues.
Meanwhile, Greene remains in the Cambria County Prison on charges from his arrest in March.
Johnstown City Manager Ethan Imhoff and Johnstown Police Chief Richard Prichard both responded to 6 News saying that they "cannot comment pending litigation."
Johnstown Police Captain Chad Miller also told 6 News that he "cannot comment" on these allegations.
City of Johnstown Mayor Frank Janakovic did not respond to 6 News' requests for comment.
We also asked them about what their screening and background check process is when it comes to hiring JPD officers, but we have not heard back.
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