The most recent civil-rights suits, filed in Philadelphia, accuse Chester Police Officer Joshua DeWees of "extreme and outrageous" conduct during two allegedly wrongful arrests.

DeWees, whose pickup truck was set on fire this spring in what he suspected was a police-targeted arson, was also sued earlier this year by a teenage girl who said he struck her with his baton before arresting her.

Rickia Reese, who was 14 at the time of her arrest, was charged with disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and resisting arrest. The charges were later dismissed. An attorney representing the city has denied in court documents that DeWees acted improperly.

Gerald Turner, 52, filed suit Thursday, claiming that he was wrongfully arrested in December 2007, after he walked out of Grace Church of God in Chester and witnessed a car accident.

When DeWees arrived at the scene, Turner, of Bear, Del., began giving a statement to De-Wees about the accident, but the officer started yelling at other church members to "get your black asses out of the parking lot," then berated the church pastor, according to the complaint.

Turner then asked for DeWees' badge number, at which point DeWees handcuffed him, cited him for disorderly conduct and detained him in a holding cell at the Chester police station, the lawsuit states.

A preliminary hearing was never scheduled for Turner's citation.

Julia Quagliarello, 18, of Ridley Park, also sued DeWees Thursday, claiming that she was wrongfully arrested in January while driving to classes at Widener University.

Quagliarello states in the lawsuit that DeWees pulled her over and ordered her to get out of her car - with his gun pointed at her head.

When she exited the vehicle, DeWees arrested her in front of several Widener students, according to the suit, and was charged with fleeing a police officer and disorderly conduct, and placed her in a holding cell. The charges were later withdrawn.

The three lawsuits claim that the city and police department failed to discipline DeWees after receiving complaints about his behavior.

DeWees could not be reached for comment yesterday. Chester Police Chief Floyd Lewis and attorneys representing the city and DeWees did not return phone calls from the Daily News.

Attorney Joseph Oxman, who filed the three lawsuits against DeWees and the city, declined to comment.

"The complaints speak for themselves," he said.