A married Pennsylvania State Police trooper is facing false imprisonment charges after reportedly physically detaining and committing his ex-girlfriend to a mental health treatment program under false pretenses.
Ronald Davis, 37, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of abusing his position in carrying out the bizarre takedown that landed his former girlfriend in a hospital institution for several days, according to the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office.
According to court documents filed by the district attorney’s office, Davis allegedly informed her, “I know you’re not crazy, but I’ll paint you as crazy” prior to the forced medical treatment.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, his effort to have his ex committed began on Aug. 21 when he requested assistance from fellow troopers because he claimed the victim — named by the district attorney as M.F. — had mental health difficulties.
According to the court documents, Davis, who was off duty at the time, contacted county officials via his police email account and portrayed himself as a trooper to obtain an injunction after submitting supposed texts from her in which she threatened suicide.
Once he got the order approved, the trooper went after the woman, whom he had dated for about four months, before uniformed troopers reached her, authorities alleged.
“I’ll take care of it myself,” he allegedly said.
According to the affidavit, Davis and a civilian companion discovered the victim in a picnic area at a state forest, where he scooped her up and brought her to his car before the two struggled on the ground.
According to the footage shot by the man with Davis and shared by the DA’s office, Davis is seen sitting on top of his ex as she claims he tackled her to the ground.
She also said she didn’t need help, and wanted to get away from the cop.
“You’re insane,” she said. “You’re absolutely insane … and then you paint me to look insane.”
As she made a move to get free, Davis manhandled her and kept her on the ground in a “wrestling-style hold,” the footage shows, according to authorities.
She said more than once “I can’t breathe” as he was on top of her.
When the two got up, Davis restrained her as she said repeatedly that she didn’t do anything wrong, according to the sickening footage.
“Why are you treating me like a criminal?” she said before uniformed officers arrived and took her to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill.
M.F. looked to “genuinely lack understanding on why she is being restrained,” according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, she received injuries to her forehead, torso, back, buttocks, forearms, knee, and lower body.
According to medical professionals, the ex-girlfriend was involuntarily detained for five days and did not exhibit any suicide intentions throughout that period.
She was released on August 26 and later interviewed by police.
After seeing an exchange of communications between the two, cops decided there was no reason to push her into treatment, according to authorities.
Her purported “suicidal” messages that Davis used against her appeared to be hypothetical in nature and part of a larger argument over their deteriorating relationship, authorities said.
“While Trooper Davis provided text messages from [the victim] … and purported them to be suicidal, he failed to provide the full context of those messages,” the affidavit alleged. “In fact, the text messages were the culmination of a larger, domestic dispute between he and the victim. Taken in context, the texts revealed her frustration with Trooper Davis and his controlling behavior … not a true desire to harm herself.”
Davis, who is married and has a family, is accused of felony strangling, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, simple assault, dangerously harming another person, and official oppression.
Following an arraignment on Thursday, he was remanded without bail, according to the DA’s office.
