Christopher Fitzgerald, who was acquitted of brandishing a gun at detectives in 2014, is now suing the county for false arrest. In an earlier suit which was dismissed, he also accused the detectives of racial profiling. Readers may remember that the victim/defendant is the son of the former police chief in Allentown. The chief was hired after a nationwide search. The chief's son was then hired by Lehigh County Prison as a guard. He slammed on his brakes on 7th Street with a car behind him, and then displayed a gun when the car behind him came alongside. The car happen to be occupied by detectives, and Fritzgerald was arrested by Whitehall Police in the parking lot of the Lehigh Valley Mall.
In a well covered trial, young Fitzgerald was acquitted of charges stemming from the incident. He was defended by high power Philadelphia lawyer Jack McMahon, who would later defend Pawlowski, who had hired Fitzgerald's dad as police chief.
The Fitzgerald's had no problem with racial profiling when the father was hired as police chief. They had no problem with profiling when junior was given a job at the prison. That only happened when the Hispanic detective in the car behind him got annoyed at him waving a Glock handgun.
above reprinted from September of 2018
ADDENDUM AUGUST 25, 2022:Since Fitzgerald's* departure, Allentown went through several chiefs, more less depleting its inventory of former homegrown brass in the department. Its current chief, Charles Roca**, is also homegrown, and Hispanic to boot. It is not an easy job, but Roca appears popular, with both the public and administration.
* Being an experienced minority chief is very marketable in current times, and Fitzgerald was always willing to travel for for bigger and better. He most recently was hired as chief of Denver's large transportation system.
**Allentown now has a young department. It is my hope for Allentown that Roca stays in place long enough to gray on the job, and mentor future brass for the department.
I like Roca, he is sincere in his desire to be a good chief and to run the department in a fashion that serves the best interests of the residents. In my opinion, based on what I have seen and hears, that means giving up on enforcement of so called nuisance crimes and far less enforcement of traffic laws. I believe this is a result of the national situation where major incidents with the police and anti -police agitators have erupted over traffic stops and nuisance crimes. Less law enforcement interaction/contact with the public is the result.
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