Federal Judge Dismisses Suit Against Borough, Detective

A federal magistrate last week dismissed a civil suit that had been filed against Borough and one of its police officers.

Online court records show that on April 11, federal Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly threw out the case filed by Philip L. Neal. Neal represented himself in the suit, which was originally filed in January 2011 against the borough and Det. Alexander Coghill.

Neal, 51, of South Carolina, alleged that Coghill, “destroyed a video surveillance tape taken at McGrogan’s Tap Room that showed a disturbance there but didn’t capture him stabbing a Peters Township couple,” the Observer-Reporter indicated.

An attorney representing the borough and Coghill maintained the tape did not exist, the paper reported.

Online court records show Neal was sentenced in March to three to six years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of aggravated assault for the stabbing, which occurred in July 2009.

In her opinion, Kelly said that Neal failed to show cause in the case, and that he did not comply with several orders of the court during the duration of the suit.

In fact, the judge wrote that Neal, “failed to provide this court any indication that he wishes to proceed with this action.”