10/10/2025
Two protesters arrested in late July during an ICE-involved patrol in Ambridge are suing the borough and several local officers on claims they were unlawfully detained for exercising their rights.
Separate lawsuits, filed Oct. 8 in federal court, allege Isaac Elias and Katherine Melson were arrested without probable cause and without being read their Miranda rights, subjected to excessive force and denied legal counsel before being arraigned. The lawsuits also claim the arrests, made as Elias and Melson protested police activity, violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceful assembly.
Joe Askar, solicitor for the borough, said he is reviewing the filings and declined to comment.
Interviewed over the summer, Ambridge Police Chief John DeLuca referred to the operation as a “saturation patrol,” involving multiple local and federal forces, and “not an ICE detention roundup.” He said the department would work with ICE when asked, though it doesn’t have a formal contractual agreement.
ICE agents, aided by Ambridge police, the Beaver County Sheriff’s office and at least one Pennsylvania State Police officer, arrested individuals across town over the course of several hours the night of July 31. Observers and response volunteers crowded outside the police station.
Elias witnessed 12 arrests targeting suspected immigrants and, according to the complaint, began marching the perimeter of the Ambridge police station holding a homemade sign that read “No Justice, No Peace” and chanting “Shame!”
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