A Wayne County man is accused of harassing a woman and her attorney as they sat in the waiting room of the Lackawanna County Government Center in Scranton.
When county deputies approached Salvatore Clemente, 32, he became agitated, refused to comply with their requests and repeatedly bumped into one of them, police say.
Clemente, of Newfoundland, faces charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
According to the criminal complaint, at about 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, attorney Catherine Gallagher was conferring with her client at the government center on Wyoming Avenue when Clemente sat down next to the group, staring at her client’s mother.
Because her client didn’t know Clemente, Gallagher asked him to stop staring and said she didn’t want a problem.
Clemente refused, stating, “I’ll do what I want; I think you’re pretty.”
After refusing a deputy’s request to move, Clemente shouted harassing statements as Gallagher and her clients moved out of the room.
Another woman told deputies Clemente was the defendant in her protection-from-abuse case and had violated the order in the hallway by waving at her and taunting her.
When deputies approached Clemente, he became argumentative and refused to leave the building.
He then intentionally bumped back into Sgt. Joseph George three times, despite warnings to stop.
When George attempted to arrest him after the third bump, Clemente pulled away and swiped at the officer’s hands, before deputies arrested him.
Clemente remains at the Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:45 a.m. on April 1 before District Judge Paul Ware.