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CAMPBELL -- The city's former police chief -- now a bailiff -- is under investigation again.
Campbell police are investigating allegations of stalking, harassment and menacing against Campbell Municipal Court Bailiff Dennis Puskarcik after what a city employee described as a yearlong pattern of targeted behavior that makes her fear for her safety.
A police report states the employee filed the complaint Sept. 10, two days after Puskarcik submitted a public records request to the Campbell Fire Department.
The request seeks reports, firefighter and EMT notes, video and other information concerning an October 2025 medical emergency involving the complaining employee. Puskarcik wrote that the information would help him understand "facts that were filed against me."
The employee states that her history with Puskarcik began in fall 2025 when he made multiple public-records requests for payroll information concerning her and the police chief. On Oct. 21, she said, Puskarcik came to her office while she was alone, followed her to her desk and requested council meeting minutes she said he already possessed.
In a Sept. 17 supplement, she said he stood in her doorway holding a cellphone as though he was recording her, leaving her feeling trapped and unable to comfortably leave the office.
The employee said she reported the encounter to Campbell's director of administration the following day. Immediately after that conversation, she suffered a medical emergency that required an ambulance and hospitalization. On Oct. 24, the administration director and police issued a trespass order barring Puskarcik from her office.
After about 11 months with no direct contact, she said Puskarcik's Sept. 8 request for records concerning that medical emergency renewed her fears. She characterized the request as an attempt to obtain her private medical information through another city department and said she has never filed a personal lawsuit or claim against Puskarcik and has no personal relationship with him.
The woman asked police to investigate possible stalking and menacing charges and said she wants a protection order and no further contact from Puskarcik. Police advised her to speak with the prosecutor about pursuing charges and provided information about seeking a protection order. The report does not indicate that Puskarcik had been charged or arrested, but court records state that he is charged with menacing by stalking. He is scheduled for a pretrial hearing Nov. 12, and a possible plea Nov. 23. Those dates are identical to the other pending case against Puskarcik, indicating both matters could be settled on the same day.
Puskarcik was arrested at his Robinson Avenue home in April on a warrant for menacing and stalking charges.
Campbell Municipal Court Judge Mark Kolmacic hired Puskarcik as bailiff in early January, shortly after former bailiff David Horvath's second drug-related arrest in six months. Horvath's two cases remain pending. The court's website does not list Puskarcik as bailiff, as of Thursday afternoon.
According to a Campbell police report, a female city employee said Puskarcik tapped her on the head and touched her hair April 21 while she worked in the courtroom. She told him, "Don't touch me," and Puskarcik allegedly replied, "Not yet."
The woman said Puskarcik had touched her against her will before and regularly followed her around the building, including into the break room and places where she was alone. She also said he had made comments about knowing where she lived and that she feared coming to work when he was there.
She told her supervisor, Dawn Pesa, about the encounter and said she feared losing her job for reporting it because of Puskarcik's well-known friendship with Kolmacic.
Puskarcik previously resigned from the Campbell Police Department in 2019 after then-officer Melissa Williams, who now works for Poland Village, accused him of stealing from the department's evidence room. Authorities later charged him with menacing for threatening to punch Williams, and he pleaded to a reduced disorderly conduct charge in February 2020.
Puskarcik successfully sought to have that conviction expunged last year. Kolmacic initially was set to hear the case but recused himself for a conflict of interest. Retired Columbiana Municipal Court Judge Mark Frost ultimately granted the expungement Dec. 9. Williams testified at the hearing that Puskarcik continued following her, appearing at police scenes and driving past her house.
A city employee also said Campbell issued Puskarcik a trespass warning from city hall Oct. 24 for allegedly harassing another female city employee. After Kolmacic hired him, the city amended the order to bar Puskarcik only from areas where that employee regularly worked.
Because of the expungement, online court records no longer show Puskarcik's original charges or his 2020 plea.