Board told about series of accusations during meeting
A man who spoke during public comments at Tuesday's Limerick Township Board of Supervisors meeting claimed the township was responsible for the death of his cousin, who he said was arrested following a traffic stop by township police.
A visibly upset David Ewald said he filed a lawsuit recently over the wrongful death of his cousin, who Ewald claims committed suicide in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in October.
Ewald, who identified his cousin only by the name George, said that George was pulled over in Limerick Township by Officer John Cassel because Ewald forgot to renew registration on his truck. Ewald said that Cassel found a warrant on George in Maryland and claimed a Maryland warrant is "no good" in Pennsylvania.
Ewald alleged Cassel lied to the district court and said that George fled from prosecution in Maryland. Ewald said his cousin's bail was set at $25,000 and George couldn't pay bail, so he was placed in Montgomery County custody.
According to Ewald, his cousin was a disabled veteran medicated with antidepressants and antipsychotics.
"He didn’t get any medicine at all" when he was sent to jail, Ewald said.
Ewald claimed on October 17, 2011, his cousin threatened suicide and then hung himself in his cell. Ewald also alleged that other prisoners saw the suicide and called guards, but the guards ignored them and didn’t come around until scheduled rounds.
Ewald said he believes the township should be held responsible for the death.
His cousin's death, Ewald said, has been "hard on the family."
"When there’s a suicide in the family, it increases the chance of another suicide in the family," he said.
Ewald told the board he had just returned from Chicago, where he attended the funeral of George's brother, who apparently committed suicide on Tuesday.
He said he was told by Limerick police that "they can arrest anyone" and he wants the township to "look at that [case] and realize officers can’t go lie to courts."
While the board listened quietly to Ewald's speech, they did not address or comment on the statement. Solicitor Joseph McGrory said after the meeting that he "is not aware of any litigation" in the matter.
Stephen Eickhoff
1:51 pm on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
What? The states are required to extradite by the U.S. Constitution! The rest of it is worthy of review.
Dan
4:07 pm on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Not necessarily, it depends on the level of charges. This is tragic, however the question comes to play if; 1) the officer lied
2) was the man guilty
3) did they know he had a medical condition
4) at what point are people responsible for their own actions. This of course is more subjective….
John Bahn
11:04 pm on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
I know the arresting officer personally and without full knowledge of George's possible arrest history I will say now only that John Cassel is an upstanding and honest person who would not intentionally lie. Officer Cassel is not vindictive or cruel but does go "by the book" when he finds it necessary.
I'm sure Officer Cassel is not unaffected by this and would vouch for his integrity in the matter fully and unequivocally.
Sincerely,
John Bahn
King of Prussia, PA
truthsayer
8:26 am on Thursday, June 7, 2012
A check of the Maryland Judiciary Case Search website shows an arrest of a George Ewald of W. Ridge Pk, Pottstown PA (Limerick) on drug charges, and a warrant to have him returned to Maryland. A check of the PA Unified Juidicial System website finds George Ewald arranged by a District Justice on fugitive charges, and bail set at $25,000. Based on that information, it appears a warrant was active, and (presumably) the police acted properly.
Also, there was an outstanding Non-Traffic citation from 2008 in which George Ewald was cited for Public Drunkenness in Limerick Twp., which he appears to have ignored, as it is listed as being cleared on the death of Ewald.
These are facts which have been verified by searching public records, and the relative's claim of a Maryland criminal warrant being invalid in Pennsylvania is ridiculous.
Finally, I doubt a lawyer would advise a client to speak in public on a (pending) lawsuit, as the "cousin" has done at the township meeting. To me, it appears to be a weak attempt to get some money via the threat of a lawsuit.