Man Says Cop Threatened to Kill Him

(CN) - A private investigator claims a Maryland state trooper who runs a private security service threatened to kill him when he quit. Lawrence Metcalf says Andrew Mohan threatened that he "had connections everywhere and would make the plaintiff's life miserable by making him a target, black-balling him, and causing everything to disappear, including his license, gun, gun permit and life."

In his complaint in Baltimore Federal Court, Metcalf says he is a licensed security guard and private investigator who has "worked in the security field for almost 20 years."

Mertcalf says Mohan became enraged when he announced he was leaving because Mohan's security firm, Blue Line Protective Services, "was not properly licensed with the State of Maryland, as required, to allow its security guards to carry weapons."

After threatening his life, Metcalf says, Mohan ratcheted up the threat by saying "that he could 'kill Plaintiff and get away with it because Special Police Officer Young has powerful friends in the State's Attorney's Office and they could write him (Defendant Maryland State Trooper Andrew Mohan) out of it.'" (Parentheses in complaint. The complaint does not further identify "Special Police Officer Young," who is not named as a defendant.)

Metcalf claims that Mohan then set out to destroy his reputation, creating and disseminating a false police alert accusing him of impersonating an officer, describing him as "combative" and "armed and dangerous," putting him at risk of being killed by another officer.

Metcalf claims that Mohan showed up at place where Metcalf worked and told people there that Metcalf had raped a woman in a local night club. He made these allegations while dressed in his trooper uniform, after having climbed out of a marked Maryland state police cruiser, according to the complaint.

Metcalf claims Mohan accessed the Maryland State Police Department Computer and criminal justice information system databases and used Metcalf's driving records and other personal information to create the fraudulent alert.

He says the phony alert included Metcalf's name, a depiction of his driver's license, a physical description that included his scars, his date of birth and Social Security number.

Metcalf described the alert as a calculated effort to incite members of the Prince George's County Police Department to inflict and cause bodily harm, and perhaps even cause his death.

Metcalf seeks punitive damages for constitutional violations, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, tortious interference with contract, conspiracy, and privacy violations. He also sued the state and county for negligence and failure to supervise.

He is represented by Bradley Farrar of College Park.

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