The Pennsylvania State Police must reinstate a trooper who is barred from having a gun because a female officer secured a protection from abuse order against him, a state appeals court has ruled.

The split Commonwealth Court panel made that decision in upholding an arbitrator's ruling that requires the rehiring of Trooper Craig Acord.

That ruling forces the state police to put Acord on restricted duty, at least until the gun possession ban set by the PFA expires in May.

Acord's problems stem from a failed romance.

Senior Judge Dan Pellegrini wrote in the state court's majority opinion that Acord became romantically involved with a female trooper at the Trevose station. She sought the PFA in 2015 after the relationship ended and Acord kept harassing her, court records state.

The woman claimed in her PFA petition that Acord told her, "You will always be mine," and kissed on the neck while the two were in the police station. She said he also tried to photograph her while she was bending over and that he loitered in the parking lot of a convenience store near her home.

Acord filed a grievance when he was fired over the PFA. The arbitrator ordered his rehiring after noting that, despite the filing of the PFA, a state police internal investigation found the harassment allegations against Acord were "not sustained." The arbitrator also ordered that Acord receive back pay.

Judge Patricia A. McCullough filed a dissenting opinion, arguing that Acord's firing was justified since, without a gun, "he cannot perform the basic and essential duties for which he was hired as a trooper."

In any case, it seems the acts cited in the PFA "would constitute the crime of stalking," another reason not to let Acord back on the force, McCullough contended.

She insisted the arbitrator not only "transcended his power," but made a call that "would unnecessarily place (Acord) in a dangerous situation where he would be unable to defend himself, or the public, by utilizing a firearm."