A man has filed a federal lawsuit against the former Millvale police chief and the borough, claiming that he was illegally arrested and forced into pleading guilty.

Scott Goedicke alleges in his claim that Dean Girty, who was fired in April 2007 in the midst of an internal investigation, had him arrested on charges of terroristic threats and harassment.

According to the lawsuit, Mr. Goedicke was with Mr. Girty's estranged wife, Nicola Girty, on July 24, 2006, when she called Mr. Girty. The two had an argument on the phone, and Mr. Goedicke says he took the phone from Ms. Girty and spoke to the then-police chief, who he claims had been disrespectful to Ms. Girty.

More than two months later, on Oct. 11, the chief obtained a warrant for Mr. Goedicke and had his officers arrest hm.

Mr. Goedicke ended up spending four days in jail on the charges before he was released, the lawsuit said.

Later, Mr. Goedicke claims, Mr. Girty forced him to plead guilty to the summary offenses by threatening to file additional charges against both Mr. Goedicke and Nicola Girty.

The lawsuit includes claims for civil rights violations, false imprisonment, abuse of process and invasion of privacy.