By Carl Hessler Jr.
NORRISTOWN — A part-time
Colwyn, Delaware County, police officer has pleaded not guilty in Montgomery
County Court to charges he allegedly harassed and stalked his former fiancée.
Stephen Rozniakowski, 32, of
Norwood, waived his formal arraignment on Wednesday and entered a not guilty
plea to the 25 counts of stalking and 50 counts of harassment lodged against
him in connection with alleged incidents that occurred in Plymouth between
October 2013 and April 2014. By waiving his arraignment, Rozniakowski did not
have to appear in court and his case will now be listed for trial.
However, Rozniakowski has a
hearing next week on his request to have the charges dismissed against him. He
wants a county judge to review a district court judge’s decision that ordered
him to stand trial on the charges.
Rozniakowski, through his
lawyer Martin P. Mullaney, claimed prosecutors did not provide sufficient
evidence during a June 11 preliminary hearing before District Court Judge
Francis J. Bernhardt III of Conshohocken to support the charges. Prosecutors
will have the opportunity to address Rozniakowski’s request during next week’s
hearing.
Rozniakowski remains free on
$100,000 unsecured bail pending his next court hearing. As a condition of bail,
Rozniakowski is prohibited from contacting the woman he is accused of stalking.
Rozniakowski reportedly is
still employed as a police officer with Colwyn, but Mullaney previously
revealed that he is on desk duty and does not patrol the streets.
With the charges, prosecutors
alleged Rozniakowski contacted his former fiancée thousands of times through
unwanted phone calls, text messages and emails during the seven-month period.
Prosecutors alleged Rozniakowski’s alleged conduct caused the victim to fear
for her safety, so much so she sought help from police. Even after police
warned Rozniakowski to stay away from the victim and have no further contact
with her, he allegedly continued texting, emailing and phoning the young woman,
at times 20 times an hour, prosecutors alleged.
The victim contacted Plymouth
Township authorities on Feb. 28 and told them she and Rozniakowski had been
engaged to be married, but that she broke off the relationship last September,
according to the affidavit of probable cause. After the breakup, Rozniakowski
began contacting the woman repeatedly by calling, texting and leaving messages
on her cellphone, according to the arrest affidavit filed by Plymouth Police
Officer Joseph LaPenta III.
The victim, who is employed as
a certified paramedic for the Plymouth Community Ambulance Association,
estimated that on some days Rozniakowski called her cellphone 50 to 100 times
and text messaged her 100 times a day, according to the arrest affidavit. The
woman told police she blocked Rozniakowski’s number, but he continued to call
from blocked phone numbers, according to court documents.
“When (the woman) would ignore
the phone calls, Rozniakowski would then leave voice mail messages in an
attempt to explain his need to speak with her,” LaPenta wrote in the arrest
affidavit.
Prosecutors alleged
Rozniakowski ignored the woman’s repeated requests to stop contacting her.
In March, LaPenta spoke with
Rozniakowski a
nd informed him that his former
fiancée had filed a complaint against him. At that time, Rozniakowski allegedly
admitted to calling his former fiancée from blocked numbers, saying he calls
“simply because he cares about her,” according to the arrest affidavit. LaPenta
warned Rozniakowski to cease all forms of contact with the woman or face
criminal charges and Rozniakowski indicated he understood and promised to stop
all contact with the woman, according to the arrest affidavit.
However, the calls, texts and
emails continued, authorities alleged.
“The amount of phone calls,
voice mails and emails that have continued to occur even after I advised
Rozniakowski to cease all contact with (the woman) show an escalating course of
conduct,” LaPenta alleged in the affidavit.
The woman also told authorities
that she had observed Rozniakowski following her from her home to numerous
locations and that he had gained access to her work schedule, according to the
criminal complaint.