On Nov. 14, 2021, Marisa Vicosa reported to York Area Regional Police (now called York County Regional Police) that her estranged husband, a former Baltimore County Police Officer named Robert Vicosa, had held her hostage and was threatening to kill her and their two daughters, 7-year-old Gianna and 6-year-old Aaminah.
Cpl. Daniel Miller, the shift supervisor on duty that Sunday afternoon, advised her to obtain an emergency protection from abuse order, which she did.
Sisters Giana, left, and Aaminah Vicosa sit on pumpkins in a submitted portrait.
Once she did that, Miller, attuned to gravity of the situation and alarmed by Marisa’s report of horrific abuse, including being held hostage by her husband and his girlfriend, a former Baltimore County cop named Tia Bynum, and being raped and forced to ingest drugs, planned to execute the order at Vicosa’s Windsor Township home immediately, according to court documents.
Miller couldn’t act unilaterally. He went through the chain of command, and at the end of that chain Police Chief Tim Damon denied Miller’s proposal to rescue the girls and detain Vicosa, if necessary.
Chief Damon had told his shift supervisor to wait until Monday to serve the order. Miller, according to court documents, tried to contact Damon several times to clarify the order but received no response.
By then it was too late. Vicosa had absconded with his daughters, setting off a manhunt that ended three days later on a northern Maryland highway with Vicosa killing his daughters and his girlfriend before taking his own life.
The next day, Miller, described in court papers as alarmed by the situation and concerned that the chief’s order may be unlawful, told Marisa Vicosa that the PFA had not been executed and advised her of her right to file a private criminal complaint against Damon. (That complaint was filed and subsequently withdrawn, and the state Attorney General’s office conducted its own investigation, the results of which have not been made public.)
A lawyer for Marisa Vicosa later charged that the police failed in their duty to protect Gianna and Aaminah, an assertion that led to a $3 million settlement in the case.
The case led to reforms in how York County law enforcement handles PFAs.
But it did not end well for Miller.
Shortly after the case concluded, Miller was demoted.
Federal lawsuit claims retaliation
And now Miller has filed a federal lawsuit against the department, Damon and the department’s board of commissioners, alleging that Miller faced retaliation and harassment for trying to faithfully execute his duties.
Essentially, the lawsuit claims Miller was punished for trying to save Gianna and Aaminah’s lives.
Miller, a 25-year veteran of the department, claims in the suit that Damon violated state law when he declined to execute the PFA. State law “requires police officers to make reasonable attempts to serve such orders,” according to the lawsuit, filed in November in federal district court in the District of Columbia.
On Nov. 23, 2021, one day after Marisa Vicosa filed a private criminal complaint against Damon, Miller was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, according to the lawsuit. The department charged that he had made disparaging comments, gave Marisa Vicosa Chief Damon’s home address and explained to her how to file a complaint against the chief.
“The temporal proximity between Ms. Vicosa’s complaint and (Miller’s) placement on leave – just one day – creates the strong inference of retaliatory motive,” the lawsuit states.
A boy places a candle on a memorial at a candlelight vigil on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021, for Giana, 7, and Aaminah Vicosa, 6, at the site where the sisters were killed in a murder-suicide by their father, Robert Vicosa, of Baltimore, during a police chase on the 23000 block of Ringgold Pike on Nov. 18, near Smithsburg, Maryland.
Marisa’s story: Marisa Vicosa tells the horrific tale of her 2 daughters’ murder by ex-cop father
Previously: Torture, rape, murder & police negligence: Vicosa settlement details tragic failures by cops
According to the lawsuit, Miller “truthfully denied providing Chief Damon’s address to Ms. Vicosa and maintained that the order not to serve the protective order was illegal.” Marisa Vicoas later told the attorney general’s office that Miller did not give her Damon’s home address.
The “pattern of retaliation” resulted in Miller being demoted in February 2022 and his removal from specialized duties including serving on the SWAT team, as a firearms and active shooter instructor and as a member of the department’s honor guard.
The suit also claims Miller was forbidden from serving as an officer in charge despite his seniority and denial of all overtime. He was further excluded from mandatory training and staff meetings and was placed under “enhanced scrutiny” and held to “different standards than peers,” according to the suit.
The lawsuit quotes several supervisors in bolstering Miller’s claims. According to the suit, one sergeant, Peter Montgomery, told Miller, “I guess it sucks to be you right now” because “you’re Dan Miller.” Sgt. Trent Buschman was quoted in the lawsuit as saying, “Chief Damon made perfectly clear he doesn’t want Dan doing anything.” Another sergeant, Raymond Krzywulak, admitted that Miller was “being treated differently” and said that supervisors were directed by Damon to deny his overtime requests, according to the suit.
“These statements provide direct evidence of retaliatory intent and discriminatory application of department policies,” the lawsuit states.
In August 2022, Miller reached a settlement with the department that would result in his rank being restored and payment for lost wages and overtime, according to the lawsuit. The department, according to the lawsuit, “failed to honor these terms.” A second settlement was reached in August 2023, according to the lawsuit. The department also did not honor the terms of that settlement, according to the suit.
The suit charges the department, the chief and the board of commissioners with violating Miller’s First Amendment rights and violating the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law, which prohibits retaliation against employees who report wrongdoing to their employers or authorities.
Miller, according to his attorney, Maryland lawyer Charles Tucker Jr., remains on the job as the lawsuit works its way through the court system.
Damon did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the lawsuit.
Columnist/reporter Mile Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Cop demoted after role in Vicosa case files suit against department