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<p>SUGAR NOTCH &#8212; Borough councilman Mario Fiorucci was hit with harassment charges leveled by police Chief Jeremy Talanca this week in what is the latest controversy to embroil the outspoken elected official in recent years.</p><p>Fiorucci, 60, said Talanca is &#8220;out of his mind&#8221; when a reporter informed him of the charges Tuesday.</p><p>&#8220;Any chance they can get to give me a hard time or spin a story to make me look bad, they take advantage of it,&#8221; Fiorucci said of borough officials, adding he planned to fight the charges. &#8220;Anything they want to make up has to be proven in court.&#8221;</p><p>Fiorucci, in political newsletters circulated in the borough of about 1,000 residents in recent weeks, had claimed a shouting match erupted between he and Talanca before the start of the August council meeting when a resident who &#8220;has a habit of staring at Fiorucci to intimidate him&#8221; dropped a chair in front of him.</p><p>The resident, identified by Fiorucci as &#8220;RB,&#8221; started &#8220;working on Fiorucci&#8221; and threatened to kill Fiorucci as the resident left the meeting, Fiorucci said. Fiorucci claimed he yelled he had just been threatened, but Talanca did nothing.</p><p>&#8220;It seems every new chief we get, (he) joins one of (Mayor Bill Davis&#8217;) secret societies, so they know they can treat Fiorucci like a second-class councilman,&#8221; Fiorucci said in the newsletter.</p><p>In a letter dropped off at the Times Leader on Monday, Fiorucci claimed Talanca came to his residence Sunday and demanded an apology for what Fiorucci wrote about the chief in the newsletter. He claimed Talanca threatened to sue him for libel if his comments weren&#8217;t retracted.</p><p>Talanca, who was named chief in May, showed a reporter body-camera footage from his encounter with Fiorucci on Sunday. Talanca can be heard asking Fiorucci to speak with him about the newsletter as Fiorucci enters his residence and closes the door behind him, but does not appear to make any comments about litigation or apologies.</p><p>Told of the recording Tuesday, Fiorucci first suggested the footage may have been doctored, then claimed he was paraphrasing Talanca.</p><p>&#8220;This is just my recollection,&#8221; Fiorucci said. &#8220;I can&#8217;t make that stuff up.&#8221;</p><p>He maintained his account of the council meeting was accurate.</p><p>Talanca, however, argued Fiorucci&#8217;s version of events was &#8220;completely incorrect and inaccurate.&#8221;</p><p>When Talanca tried to explain the resident has trouble hearing and is permitted to pull his chair closer to council, Fiorucci &#8220;didn&#8217;t want to hear it&#8221; and ordered Talanca to move the resident back, the chief said. A shouting match erupted and Fiorucci asked Talanca to go outside and talk, according to Talanca.</p><p>When Talanca started to walk outside, Fiorucci &#8220;blew up&#8221; and said he felt threatened by Talanca for agreeing to go outside with him. Throughout the rest of the meeting, Fiorucci was &#8220;a disturbance&#8221; and had to be warned repeatedly that he would be removed if his behavior continued, the chief said.</p><p>The resident, apparently fed up with the arguing, got up to leave the meeting and commented, &#8220;(Fiorucci) already tried to have me arrested once because he said I was going to kill him,&#8221; Talanca said.</p><p>&#8220;There was never any threat,&#8221; the chief added. &#8220;Everybody in that room heard exactly what was said.&#8221;</p><p><strong>History with borough</strong></p><p>Talanca said he filed the charges because Fiorucci is attempting to tear down his character as he is attempting to build the reputation of the police department.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not going to lay down and allow this to occur on my first three months here,&#8221; said Talanca.</p><p>Fiorucci, who won a seat on council in 2009 but lost re-election in 2013, is no stranger to clashes with the borough.</p><p>In 2010, he battled officials who claimed he operated an illegal boarding house at his residence. Fiorucci had argued he lived with three men who have been homeless or close to homeless in the past, and that he and his co-inhabitants share the $1,000 per month he must pay in property taxes, utilities and other overhead costs.</p><p>Zoning officials denied permission for Fiorucci to run the boarding house later that year.</p><p>Former Police Chief Christopher Pelchar cited him with trespassing prior to the election in 2013 after Fiorucci allegedly placed a newsletter in the mailbox of a resident who had explicitly stated he didn&#8217;t want the letter delivered to his home. He was found not guilty.</p><p>After winning his council seat last year, Fiorucci was snubbed during a swearing-in ceremony when Mayor Bill Davis administered the oath of office to three other newly elected council members but refused to swear in Fiorucci. A judge swore in Fiorucci the next day.</p><p>Fiorucci has also shared his opinions in numerous letters to the editor over the years.</p><p>Davis and council President Pat Dalton, who share more than three decades of experience as elected officials in the borough, said Fiorucci&#8217;s behavior is nothing new.</p><p>&#8220;Every time you turn around there is something he doesn&#8217;t like,&#8221; Dalton said.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been this way with him for years,&#8221; added Davis.</p><p>Fiorucci has informed the borough he won&#8217;t be present at some future meetings, Dalton said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Sugar Notch Mayor Bill Davis looks at papers and newsletters related to councilman Mario Fiorucci. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL081517SugarNotch2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Sugar Notch Mayor Bill Davis looks at papers and newsletters related to councilman Mario Fiorucci. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL081517SugarNotch3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sugar Notch Borough Police Chief Jeremy Talanca reviews body-camera footage of his recent encounter with councilman Mario Fiorucci at the Sugar Notch police department Tuesday. The chief has charged Fiorucci with harassment. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL081517SugarNotch3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Sugar Notch Borough Police Chief Jeremy Talanca reviews body-camera footage of his recent encounter with councilman Mario Fiorucci at the Sugar Notch police department Tuesday. The chief has charged Fiorucci with harassment. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL081517SugarNotch4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sugar Notch Mayor Bill Davis looks on while police Chief Jeremy Talanca speaks about a recent incident with a councilman. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL081517SugarNotch4.jpg</photo2><caption2>Sugar Notch Mayor Bill Davis looks on while police Chief Jeremy Talanca speaks about a recent incident with a councilman. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL081517SugarNotch1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sugar Notch Borough Police Chief Jeremy Talanca discusses harassment charges he filed against council member Mario Fiorucci on Tuesday. Borough Mayor Bill Davis is at Talanca&#8217;s immediate right. The other person at the table is council President Pat Dalton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL081517SugarNotch1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Sugar Notch Borough Police Chief Jeremy Talanca discusses harassment charges he filed against council member Mario Fiorucci on Tuesday. Borough Mayor Bill Davis is at Talanca&#8217;s immediate right. The other person at the table is council President Pat Dalton. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Sugar Notch councilman charged with harassment in dispute with chief