Police officers from Clearfield Borough and nearby Lawrence Township have denied they did anything wrong two years ago when they entered a home on the 200 block of Walther Avenue, Clearfield, without a search warrant in pursuit of a man who owed the county $600 in fines and costs.

Cpl. Shawn Fye and Austin Miller of Clearfield Borough and Chief Douglas Clark of Lawrence Township are named as defendants in a civil rights lawsuit brought by the home’s former resident Carla Orndorf, who now lives in Osceola Mills.

Orndorf, through Williamsport attorney Michael J. Zicolello, has charged the officers with violating her Fourth Amendment rights by allegedly forcing their way into her home.

After police found the man they were looking for, Michael Lee Bloom — identified as Orndorf’s boyfriend at the time of the incident — Orndorf was charged with misdemeanor offenses of hindering apprehension and harboring or concealing an individual wanted by the law.

According to her lawsuit filed in January in the U.S. District Court in Johnstown, police lacked probable cause to charge Orndorf with any crime.

In her civil lawsuit, Orndorf is asking financial damages for malicious prosecution under both federal and state law and for violations of her First Amendment rights to protest police presence and for the intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The civil lawsuit states that, “The officers did not have either the consent of Carla Orndorf or a search warrant to permit them to enter her residence with force and arrest Mr. Bloom.”

It also notes the charges against Orndorf “have been terminated in (her) favor.”

The three police officers on Monday asked U.S. District Judge Stephanie L. Haines to dismiss the lawsuit.

The incident that led to the confrontation occurred on Feb. 23, 2020, when police were dispatched to the Orndorf’s neighborhood after someone reported a verbal domestic dispute involving two men and a woman.

When officers arrived, they saw Orndorf and Bloom in an enclosed porch.

Orndorf, upon seeing police, left the porch and told them “everything was fine.”

Bloom went inside the home and then left the residence.

The lawsuit said his actions did not break any laws. Police maintained he “fled.”

The officers left after telling Orndorf to inform them if Bloom returned.

Bloom eventually returned.

Detecting his presence, police also returned, and, according to the lawsuit, told Orndorf they had a sheriff’s warrant for Bloom’s arrest.

She contended they needed a search warrant, but they eventually entered the home and arrested Bloom.

The two Clearfield officers, represented by attorneys Bernard P. .Matthews Jr. and Alexander W. Brown of Greensburg, contended a search warrant was not needed because officers were responding to a domestic call and that Bloom had “fled the home.”

They also argued in their answer that charges of malicious arrest and prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress complaint cannot stand because they had “probable cause” to file charges against Orndorf.

The Lawrence Township officer, represented by attorneys Charles H. Saul and Kyle T. McGee of Pittsburgh, also denied he violated Orndorf’s Fourth Amendment rights barring illegal searches and seizures.

The officer denied force was used to gain entry into the home.

Haines on Tuesday gave Orndorf’s attorney until May 5 to respond to the officers’ petition to dismiss.

Any reply to the response must be filed by Orndorf’s attorney no later than May 12.

State Court records show no record of charges being filed against either Orndorf or Bloom as a result of the incident.