Suspended city cop to stand trial on charges including burglary, assault

Joseph Kohut, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·3 min read

May 21—A criminal case against a suspended Scranton police officer whose alleged actions last year were likened in court Thursday to those of a murderous character in a famous horror movie can go to trial, a district magistrate ruled.

Magisterial District Judge Paul Keeler decided prosecutors presented enough evidence to see James Beahan, 60, of East Gibson Street, go to trial on all charges filed against him, including burglary, aggravated assault, interference with custody of children, endangering the welfare of children and false reports.

Beahan, who has been a city police officer for roughly 31 years, remains on unpaid administrative leave, Police Chief Leonard Namiotka said. He was put on leave in October, after he was initially arrested and accused of attacking his estranged wife and her then-boyfriend with a baseball bat.

Before dawn Oct. 7, Beahan called 911 to report his 5-year-old daughter showed up on his porch alone when she was supposed to be in the care of her mother, Danielle Beahan, who lived nearby on North Webster Avenue.

"I just found my daughter wandering around," Beahan said, according to a recording of the 911 call played in court Thursday.

Danielle Beahan testified she put her 5-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son to sleep between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., watched a movie and fell asleep with Shaun Dunn, who she was seeing at the time.

Then James Beahan kicked her door in and began screaming, asking where her child was.

During a later interview at the Children's Advocacy Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the girl said her father came in that night through a window and took her home with him. Surveillance footage from a nearby church showed Beahan walking down East Gibson Street, then back toward his home with his daughter's hand in his, Detective John Kane testified.

Deputy District Attorney Gene Riccardo argued in court James Beahan wanted to set his wife up for a child endangerment charge, which "backfired" on him.

He next came after them with a baseball bat, police charged.

Police Officer Halle Whyte arrived and saw him swing the bat at Danielle Beahan, who dodged the blow, then saw him flee inside her home.

Dunn testified James Beahan swung the bat at him as well but did not connect. Dunn tried to keep a door between him and Beahan, which Beahan attempted to break down, prompting a comparison by Riccardo to actor Jack Nicholson's character in the 1980 horror film "The Shining." Whyte took the bat away from him and handcuffed him.

Beahan's attorney, Paul Walker, argued the district attorney's office hadn't established that Beahan actually broke in and challenged the testimony Kane presented of the girl's interview.

"How does she know Daddy came through the window?" Walker asked, noting the child had been asleep.

Kane replied he only had her words from that interview to go by and said he does not know which window Beahan came through.

Walker also said Beahan did not like the idea of Dunn around his son after some sort of "incident" at a pool in Kingston over the summer, which prompted a rebuke from Riccardo that the accusation was without evidence and irrelevant.

"It's all state of mind, judge," Walker said.

Riccardo said Beahan was simply disgruntled that his wife left him.

"That's what this is all about," he said.

Beahan remains held at the Lackawanna County Prison after a judge revoked his $50,000 bail for violating a protection from abuse order, Riccardo said in court.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, x5187; @jkohutTT on Twitter.

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