`similarities' Seen In Prescription-drug Deaths 
Law Enforcement 
Officials Gather Wednesday 
To Scrutinize Deaths 
Of Two Physicians' Wives

Anna Kaczmarek 
January 8, 1998 
Anna V. Kaczmarek, 93, A Guest At The Little Flower Manor In Wilkes-barre For 
The Past Two Years, Died Thursday At Penn State Geisinger Wyoming Valley 
Medical Center, Plains Township.

By JUAN TORRES; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Saturday, January 10, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





WILKES-BARRE- New allegations surfaced Friday supporting the NAACP's claim
that a black social worker pulled over last month by an Ashley police officer
was a victim of racially motivated abuse by the officer. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But the white officer said there is no truth to the allegations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At a press conference Friday afternoon at Neddoff's Restaurant on Hazle
Avenue, Ronald L. Felton, president of the Wilkes-Barre chapter of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Sgt. David
Cerski referred to Arthur Breese as a "nigger" when he questioned Donna
Longfoot of Cook Street, Ashley. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Longfoot said Cerski was executing a search warrant in her apartment
building and asked about Breese, who had stopped at her apartment earlier. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "He stood right in my house and asked me, `Was that big, black nigger going
up to the third floor?' I told him no, and that he was coming here," said
Longfoot, who is white. "That's what he said and I'm not lying." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "She wasn't aware that he had been stopped," Felton said. "She totally
collaborates his story and supports the claims that Sgt. Cerski acted as
(Breese) said he did." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Breese was stopped by Cerski on Hazle Avenue at about 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 3.
Cerski has said Breese's car fit the description of a vehicle wanted by
Wilkes-Barre police. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 According to Breese's boss, Children's Service Center Executive Director
Joseph DeVizio, Cerski allegedly became belligerent, repeatedly used the
f-word and asked Breese "what he was doing in (Cerski's) town." Felton said
Cerski used the f-word eight times during the stop. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It never happened. ... That's not true," Cerski said Friday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Cerski said he interviewed Longfoot the afternoon of Dec. 3 during the
execution of a search warrant of a separate apartment in her building, but
added he never broached the subject of Breese with her. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "This is the first I've heard about this. I've been cleared of the incident
and my impression, and the chief's (Thomas Engle) impression is that it's
over. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "If I did it, I would admit to it and take my punishment. I never, ever
used the n-word. It didn't happen," Cerski said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I know it's serious. But he shouldn't be doing that," Longfoot said of her
remarks. "I'd swear on a stack of bibles that it's true." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "There has not been closure in this incident by the parties involved,"
Felton said at the press conference. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The NAACP will ask the Luzerne County District Attorney's Office to review
the incident again, based on the statement made by the woman as evidence of
ethnic intimidation. Breese's attorneys, Barry H. Dyller and Robert Gonos,
said a case could be made that Cerski should also be charged with official
oppression. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 District Attorney Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said he did not have any
information regarding the allegations and declined to comment further. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Early last month, Olszewski said a county detective had spoken to Cerski
and Breese but that was the extent of his office's involvement. "Even if you
take the allegations as 100 percent true, there's still no crime," he said at
the time. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Breese's attorneys have not filed any suits on their client's behalf but
said, typically, the only recourse in cases similar to Breese's is in the
civil courts. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "There was no reason to stop that car. There was no legal justification, no
reason to stop Mr. Breese," Dyller said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The NAACP would like an apology from Cerski but hopes some form of
punishment would be enacted. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'm not going to go there," Felton said when asked about the possibility
of a lawsuit against Cerski. "What I was referring to is some kind of
financial penalties assessed to an individual in the form of suspension
without pay. Something like that would send a strong enough message that this
type of behavior will not be tolerated." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Felton added that Breese has received numerous anonymous letters that
blamed him for the incident and t

Racism Claim Against Ashley Cop Backed 
Woman Says Officer Used Racial 
Epithet In Referring To Black Man, 
Who Claims Racism At Traffic Stop, 
All Of Which The Officer Denies

Racism Claim Against Ashley Cop Backed Woman Says Officer Used Racial Epithet In Referring To Black Man, Who Claims Racism At Traffic Stop, All Of Which The Officer Denies