Son of Allentown's Former Police Chief Files Civil Rights Suit Over Arrest

The son of a former eastern Pennsylvania police chief acquitted of pointing a gun at two undercover detectives says racial profiling and political retribution against his father played roles in his arrest. Christopher Fitzgerald’s federal civil rights lawsuit was filed last month and names 17 defendants, including Lehigh District Attorney Jim Martin and several law enforcement agencies. Prosecutors had argued that the 24-year-old son of former Allentown Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald pulled a gun on detectives following a 2014 road-rage incident. But a jury cleared him in the case. The lawsuit alleges Martin pressed forward with the case despite weak evidence because Martin supported another candidate for the chief’s job his father got. Martin declined to comment. WFMZ-TV reports the lawsuit is seeking more than $1 million in damages.