By Kristen Doerschner
Beaver County Times
BEAVER, Pa. — Two months after state police served a sealed search warrant at the home of a Beaver County probation officer and high school basketball coach, the man’s defense attorney petitioned the court to unseal the warrant and make the details public.
Troopers served the warrant Aug. 7 at the home of Nick Lackovich, who police said is suspected of running a dog-fighting operation. The search warrant was served at Lackovich’s residence on Sunray Drive, Center Township.
In addition to being a probation officer, Lackovich is the coach of Aliquippa High School’s boys basketball team.
Lackovich’s attorney, Stephen Colafella, said his client has been suspended without pay from his job as a probation officer. He called the suspension “unfair.”
The reason given in court documents for sealing the warrant was because Lackovich is a “Beaver County employee with ties to law enforcement and the judicial system.”
“We proactively sought to unseal that warrant,” Colafella said. “Nick is adamant that he is not involved in any of these actions.”
Colafella also called the allegations made by an unnamed source, whose statements served as the basis for the warrant, an “absolute fallacy.”
According to the warrant:
The informant claimed to have attended a series of four dog fights at Lackovich’s home on Aug. 1. The fights are alleged to have lasted between 25 and 90 minutes.
The source told state police he met with Lackovich in the past about breeding fighting dogs and “rolling” the dogs, which is a term used for letting the dogs off their chains to practice fighting.
The source also told state police that while the fight occurred at Lackovich’s home, the dogs were kept at a property he owns at 42 Scott St. in Aliquippa.
An investigator drove by that property and found a home in “bad condition with junk in the yard and appearing that it was uninhabited. However, the grass was cut.” The investigator saw “metal dog kennels, and hanging on a wall were what appeared to be heavy chains.”
Center Township police told state troopers they spoke with one of Lackovich’s neighbors, who said there had been an “abnormal amount of traffic in the neighborhood and stated that something was definitely going on at the residence.”
The source also told police Lackovich posted on the Internet under the alias “Quip Boy” about having dogs for sale. The source claimed Lackovich has been involved in breeding fighting dogs and dog fighting since approximately 2001.
Colafella said nothing of evidentiary value was seized in the search of Lackovich’s home.
Trooper Josh Thomas, who filed the warrant, told The Times he could not disclose specifics, with the exception of a couple of computers, about what was seized. But he disagreed with Colafella’s characterization of what was seized.
“Everything is of evidentiary value. It’s just a matter of putting all the puzzle pieces together,” Thomas said, adding there were “indications of dog fighting.”
Thomas said the investigation is still pending. He said the source approached them with the information, and as far as he knows, the source has no ties to the Beaver County probation office.
Colafella said he understands the state police are doing their job and have to follow up on information they receive, but he is doing his best to push the investigation forward to get closure for his client. Dog fighting is a crime “so socially repugnant just the mere allegation someone is involved in it can have a tremendous impact on their professional reputation,” he said.