News
A Belpre doctor has sued the city over an arrest for trespassing in his home
By: Thomas Billington
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – A Belpre doctor is suing the city alleging his rights were violated when police arrested him last year for trespassing in his own home.
In an interview with a WOUB reporter, Freed described what he says happened that day:
Freed said he was at the house to fix a sump pump when a police officer walked in unannounced and asked him, “What are you doing?”
“I’m at my house,” Freed said he told the officer. “I’m like, this is my house.”
Freed said the officer reached up to grab his arm and told him, “Step outside, let’s talk.” Once outside, the officer handcuffed him and put him in the back of a cruiser.
Police had been called to the house by Monika Parkinson, who was living there with her brother Pawel. Freed said he agreed to let them stay in the house while it was being remodeled.
Freed claims no landlord-tenant relationship was established and that he could come and go as he pleased, according to the lawsuit.
“Neither paid rent, signed any agreement, or made any financial contribution to the property,” the lawsuit alleges.
According to an officer’s report, Monika claimed Freed would “stop by 3-4 times per day.”
Freed alleges that Pawel smoked weed in the house, violating the housing agreement. The weed was so pervasive that family members complained about the odor. Freed confronted Pawel and asked him to leave the property. In response, Pawel told Freed that he and Monika lived there, not Freed.
Two days before his arrest, the siblings called police twice regarding Freed being at the house. Freed claims he had no knowledge of either call, and that no officers contacted him about them.
The next day, when two deputies arrived in response to another call, Freed told them he owned the property and had a right to be there, according to the lawsuit.
One deputy informed Freed of the proper eviction procedure, and told Freed the situation was a civil matter, according to the lawsuit. Freed was advised a three-day notice was required as the first step to have Pawel leave the property.
Freed says he retained an attorney who prepared the three-day notice to vacate. This attorney also confirmed to Freed his legal right to be in the home, according to the lawsuit.
On June 9, 2025, Freed returned to the house to check on a sump pump issue in the basement. Upon his arrival, Monika placed a call to Belpre police, as she had been advised to call them anytime Freed returned to the property. By the time the police arrived at the house, Freed was no longer there.
Later that day, Freed returned to the property to check again on the sump pump and mow his lawn, according to the lawsuit. Once inside the house, he discovered a chain lock was installed on his front door without his permission.
Monika placed another call to Belpre police, saying she was calling only because officers had told her to call the next time Freed came back, according to the lawsuit.
Once the officers arrived, both entered the house. According to the lawsuit, this entrance was without cause, as the officers observed “no sounds of disturbance, altercation or distress.”
Freed was then arrested and charged with criminal trespass, alleging that he knowingly entered or remained “on the land or premises of Monika Parkinson” without privilege. No prior trespass orders or warnings had been issued to Freed before his arrest, the lawsuit alleges.
The officer also seized Freed’s cell phone without a warrant, according to the lawsuit. The phone was not returned to Freed following his release from jail. The phone was Freed’s primary business device, used for patient communications, according to the lawsuit. The phone was returned to Freed about a week after his arrest, according to the lawsuit.
Freed says he was held at the Belpre police station for about four hours then transported to the Washington County Jail for booking. During his time at the police station, Freed was repeatedly questioned and asked for his phone access code, according to the lawsuit.
At one point, an officer entered Freed’s cell and said “you sure I can’t get the code?” the lawsuit alleges. Freed refused each request, and no record of these sessions or demands were produced in response to Freed’s public records request, according to the lawsuit.
Freed was released later that night, but without his phone he had no way of getting transportation back to his home, according to the lawsuit. Belpre dispatch was told of his lack of transport, and in response said if Freed gave them his access codes dispatch could retrieve phone numbers for him, according to the lawsuit.
Freed says after walking about 14 miles over four hours, a Washington County sheriff’s deputy offered Freed a ride the rest of the way.The charges against Freed were dropped three months later.
In late April, Freed filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Belpre as well as officer Gunnar Smith and Sgt. Joe Fields.
Freed alleged the officers wrongfully deprived of his freedom by forcibly arresting him in his own home. He also claims the arrest caused emotional distress and reputational harm.
WOUB reached out to the lawyer representing the city for comment but did not receive a response by the time this story was published.