Citation pending against state rep for domestic abuse call

May 27--A summary citation is pending against state Rep. Kevin Haggerty in a Dunmore magistrate's office alleging he struck his wife earlier this month at their North Webster Avenue home.

The citation for harassment comes after details of the May 18 incident became public in a petition for a protection-from-abuse order she filed in Lackawanna County Court.

Dunmore Police Chief Sal Marchese said that his officers wrote up the citation and dropped it off Wednesday at Magisterial District Judge Paul J. Ware's office on West Pine Street.

However, the citation had not been filed as of Friday. Marchese did not know a specific reason, but said it would not be unusual for some delay in filing for a citation, which is essentially a ticket with a fine determined by the judge.

In the PFA petition, Haggerty's wife, Jennifer Haggerty, 35, returned home and found her husband asleep with their two children, 6 and 4, in bed. She smelled gas and found that the kitchen stove had been turned on without being lit.

She told Kevin Haggerty, 44, the house was full of gas and he said "irrational things," according to the PFA petition. She went to the deck. He followed and threw water bottles at her and hit her hard enough to cause temporary hearing loss and facial numbness, according to the document.

Jennifer Haggerty reported the incident to the borough police. Marchese characterized the hit as a "slap."

The police consulted with the Lackawanna County district attorney's office, which did not let them charge beyond harassment. First Assistant District Attorney Gene Riccardo said that Jennifer Haggerty did not have injuries that could be photographed, which contributed to the decision not to file misdemeanor assault charges. It didn't rise to the "level of bodily injury" needed for the charge, Riccardo said.

A message left for Haggerty seeking comment was not returned. His attorney, Frank J. Ruggiero, said commenting before the citation is filed is premature.

"I wouldn't have anything to say at this point," he said.

The PFA petition alleged that Kevin Haggerty has assaulted his wife in the past, including in front of their children.

Judge Trish Corbett issued a temporary PFA order last week. A hearing scheduled on the order has been delayed to June 16 at 9:15 a.m.Jennifer Haggerty has also since filed for divorce.

Haggerty, a Democrat, won election for the second time to the state General Assembly in November to represent the 112th House district. The 112th district covers all or parts of Center City, the Hill Section and South Scranton in Scranton, Dunmore and parts of the Midvalley.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9144; @jkohutTT on Twitter

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