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Home > Blogs > West Chester News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > November > 09 > Entry
Mansour not done, files federal lawsuit
A lengthy matter involving local resident Joseph Mansour and the West Chester Twp. Police Department isn’t over.
In fact, more court proceedings are pending, as Mansour has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
Two weeks ago, we ran a story about the police department’s internal investigation into whether one of its officers acted correctly during a case involving Mansour.
Excerpt
The investigation was launched earlier this month after Mansour, was found not guilty in Butler County Area III Court in a case in which he represented himself.
At the heart of the issue is what police have called an ongoing dispute between Mansour and a neighbor, which came to a head in August 2007, when Mansour called police to his home in the 7800 block of Neida Drive.
Mansour has said that when officers responded to his home, they were rude and disrespectful to him and his son, and that a type-written statement he initialed and provided to officers was never supposed to have been filed.
The officer did file the report, and determined Mansour’s provided timeline to be false. That allegation led to the charges against him, according to a hefty court case file that Mansour has had sealed from the public after the not guilty verdict.
Following the verdict, West Chester Twp. Police Chief Erik Niehaus said an internal investigation into probable cause — more of a review rather than a written report — found no wrongdoing on behalf of his department. His comment appeared in The Pulse Journal in June.
Mansour, who recently lost a bid for one of two opens seats on the West Chester Twp. Board of Trustees, decried Niehaus’ comments last month, saying a public records request of that investigation turned up nil.
Federal case On Oct. 30, Mansour filed a civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati naming the township, its police department, Chief Erik Niehaus, former Chief John Bruce, trustees, the clerk, Officer Smith and “police officers John Does I-X.”
Three days prior to filing the lawsuit, Mansour writes, he informed “the Trustees of a Police cover up as a result of Defendant Eric Niehaus false representations.”
He also requested trustees launch an investigation of their own, and hire his company to conduct said investigation.
Township Administrator Judi Boyko said Monday, Nov. 9, her office had received the lawsuit, and that it will “handle the complaint as they do all litigation.” She declined to comment further.
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Comments
By Man Sour
November 10, 2009 7:36 AM | Link to this
The residents should be able to sue Mansour $10 for every campaign sign this clown has left on private and public property. While working the polls on election day he was handing out business cards promoting his business, which we now know is being a certified wack job.
By NewsJunkie
November 10, 2009 8:11 AM | Link to this
Sounds like the good ole boy system is alive and well in West Chester. It would not be the first time Judges and police have abused their power to help each other. An independent investigation would be interesting. Just ask Mike Fox about independent investigations….
By man suck
November 11, 2009 1:30 PM | Link to this
An independent investigation would reveal what a whack job Mansour is. If you’re really curious do a public records request to see how many times he has called the WCPD on his neighbors for completely bogus reasons. If he hates WC so much, he should move. It doesn’t help that his kids keep getting traffic tickets. I’m sure he thinks that is part of the conspiracy too….but if the officers knew it was his loser kids they’d probably let them go since he turns every case into a circus.