Deputies evict last business owner along Route 28 construction area
Allegheny County sheriff's deputies on Monday swarmed into an auto body shop on Route 28 and evicted a business owner who fought a lengthy dispute with the state over the eminent domain seizure of his property.
The eviction removed the final roadblock in a $120 million project by PennDOT to remake Route 28 as a four-lane, limited-access highway with no traffic signals between Pittsburgh and Kittanning. William C. Lieberth Sr., 56, of West Deer, owner of Allegheny Auto Body, threatened to “go berserk” if he was evicted but in the end left peacefully when deputies showed up.
“I am out of business right now. There was no reason to do this,” Lieberth said. “This is government taking private property illegally.”
About 10 a.m., deputies surrounded the building along the route that takes 60,000 motorists through the North Side, Lieberth said, and gave him half an hour to pack some of his belongings before padlocking the doors. Lieberth said he was surprised by the morning eviction and by the number of deputies.
Sheriff Bill Mullen said deputies took precautions because of Lieberth's fiery rhetoric surrounding court proceedings that cleared the way for the seizure of his property. Mullen said his deputies notified Lieberth on Friday that they would enforce a court order for him to vacate.
“We erred on the side of caution,” Mullen said. “I sympathize with him. He's losing his property. We understand he's going through a difficult time, but there was a court proceeding and he lost.”
Lieberth and his two sons loaded a jack, computer printer and garbage bags full of paperwork into his blue station wagon. He said there still are some ladders and “odds and ends” he would like to get. Mullen said Lieberth told officials anything else left in the building he would work out with PennDOT.
“This makes me 100 percent angry,” Lieberth said. “I've been there 37 years. Me and my son completely remodeled that building. It would stand for 100 years.”
Lieberth fought for more than three years to retain his property between the 16th Street and 31st Street bridges. He fired attorney Harvey Robins after the lawyer brokered a $248,803 settlement with PennDOT on his behalf, claiming he didn't approve it.
Common Pleas Judge Michael McCarthy ruled in September that Lieberth must accept the settlement and vacate by Monday. The judge ordered him to pay Robins $31,565. PennDOT paid Lieberth $120,000 and he said deputies handed him a check Monday for $97,237 – which appeared to be the balance minus the fees he owed his attorney.
Lieberth said his family ran the auto shop for almost four decades, and a pedestrian bridge named after his late father sits less than a half-mile away. He said he has not been able to find another suitable location nearby.
PennDOT filed notice to take Lieberth's property by eminent domain in April 2009, about 1 1⁄2 years before it began the project. The project required PennDOT to buy all or part of 166 properties and relocate at least 15 residents and 24 businesses. It is scheduled to be completed in late 2014.
Bobby Kerlik is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7886 or bkerlik@tribweb.com.
