Westmoreland judge to consider recusal in case involving suspended Arnold police officer

A Westmoreland County judge said he will consider a request to remove himself from the case of a man accused of lying about how his patrol vehicle was damaged while working as an Arnold police officer.

Judge Scott Mears asked attorney Marc Daffner to file a formal motion seeking his recusal in the case against Ryan Matthew Clark, 33, of Buffalo Township. Daffner briefly argued in court Tuesday that Mears should remove himself from the case because Mears previously found Clark’s testimony as a policeman during a suppression hearing in an unrelated criminal case to be not credible.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Pacek said prosecutors don’t have an issue with Mears continuing to handle the case.

“We think you can be fair and impartial and judge each case on the merits,” Pacek said.

Clark was arrested in mid-2022 by Westmoreland County detectives. He is charged with making a false report and tampering with evidence, both misdemeanors.

Detectives said Clark claimed his patrol SUV was damaged in a hit-and-run incident in the parking lot of a Sunoco 7-Eleven store on Freeport Road on June 21, 2022. Surveillance video from the convenience store showed there was no crash into his patrol vehicle, according to court papers. Instead it shows Clark take a piece of the vehicle’s damaged rocker panel from inside the car and place it against the SUV.

Mears ordered Daffner to file a motion within 10 days. Clark was suspended without pay after his arrest.