PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Pittsburgh’s City Council president was in court this morning to address claims that he harassed a local business owner and left trash on her property.

The judge says he thinks it is a case of two neighbors who just don’t get along.

Before things started Thursday morning Judge James Motznick gave both Bruce Kraus and Christine Marburger the opportunities to switch judges on the case.

Motznick said that he had been on City Council with Bruce Kraus before and wanted both to feel they were getting a fair shake.

In the end, both parties agreed and thus began a very unique preliminary hearing where an actual bag of trash was brought in as evidence.

Pittsburgh City Councilman Bruce Kraus had a littering charge against him dropped today after the judge said there wasn’t enough evidence to prove he intentionally put a box of trash on the porch of his next door neighbor’s business.

Marburger and her employees at Diamond in the Ruff told a judge they saw Kraus pick up the trash, put it on their business’ door step and then walk around the side of the building back towards his house.

Kraus said he was simply trying to clean up the streets of the South Side.

“When somebody is simply trying to clean up around their home and they go to get a trash bag, the judge properly dismissed the charges,” Phil DiLucente, Kraus’ attorney said.

The judge said he believes the issue stemmed from an ongoing neighbor dispute between Kraus and Marburger, whose dog grooming business has been next door for over six years.

Kraus said he believes Marburger filed the littering and harassment charges after he called 911 two weeks prior because of her employees’ cigarette smoke filtering into his house.

“A chronic, repeatedly chronic disruptive behavior about her employees on my sidewalk. I love my home. I know I’m a public official, but I have rights as a citizen,” Kraus said.

Today, as Marburger left the courtroom, she said she still felt Kraus was intentionally littering and harassing her.

“This is why I wanted to put an end to this. I want to be left alone I want him to leave my customers alone,” she said.

The judge is calling for a 90-day continuance to cool things off between the two.

He says neither party is allowed to have any communication with each other. They’ll go back to court in March and if there aren’t any further problems between the two, the judge said he will drop the harassment charge against Kraus.

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