“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America -
mentally unstable cops”
Another woman told Pittsburgh police the former officer
accused of using his position to demand sexual favors ordered her to strip more
than a year ago, prompting new charges against him.
Police on Thursday charged Adam Skweres, 34, of Lincoln
Place with false imprisonment, official oppression, criminal attempt and criminal
coercion. He was charged by summons and now faces allegations from five women.
The unidentified woman told detectives on April 24 that she
met Skweres in 2010, after her boyfriend's jaw was broken in a bar fight,
according to a criminal complaint. She told him at the preliminary hearing that
she was nervous about testifying and he told her they should get together and
discuss the case, the complaint said.
He called her while she was working as a nurse that night
and asked her to come to his house after her shift, the complaint said. He took
apart her phone when she arrived, and when she wanted to leave, he said,
"That's not an option," according to the complaint.
He ordered her to strip and, when she refused, said she
would have to strip and "perform a few favors," the complaint said.
He told her repeatedly that no one would believe her if she told anyone about
the incident.
She told him that her uncle was a Pittsburgh police sergeant
and that she would go straight to his house if Skweres didn't let her leave,
the complaint said. He gave her the phone, told her to "say goodbye to
your nursing career," then let her walk out, the complaint said.
The woman told police she didn't tell anyone what happened
until last year, when she befriended a city officer. After Skweres was
arrested, the officer told her to tell investigators what happened, the
complaint said. She told police that after seeing Skweres on the news she
couldn't sleep for a week and couldn't bring herself to contact police.
Skweres' attorney Phillip DiLucente said he hasn't been able
to speak with Skweres yet about the latest charges.
"The alleged behavior in that case is extremely
bizarre," DiLucente said.
The investigation of Skweres began in 2008 when a woman
complained to the Office of Municipal Investigations. She told investigators
Skweres said he could write a positive letter or a negative letter to the
county's Office of Children, Youth and Families based on whether she would
perform oral sex on him.
Another woman said Skweres solicited a sexual favor by
saying he could make the paperwork related to a South Side traffic crash
"mysteriously disappear" in July 2008, according to a complaint. In
separate incidents, two women told police Skweres demanded sexual favors in
exchange for help for their jailed boyfriends.
Skweres is on house arrest and under electronic monitoring.
He has a pre-trial conference scheduled for May 25.
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a
permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.