Trooper arrested after wedding brawl sues Pittsburgh cops

[damnedifIknow]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A state trooper sued Pittsburgh police on Tuesday, saying they arrested him on false charges and used excessive force — including a kick to the groin — when he tried to calm a rowdy groomsman following a brawl after his brother's wedding."

*Trooper David Williams, 35, of Plum, contends city officers falsely claimed he attacked them when, instead, they pushed and punched him for no reason, escalating a situation he was trying to help defuse after the Sept. 1 melee.

Williams spent 17 hours in jail and was suspended by state police for 10 days without pay before Allegheny County prosecutors dropped charges including rioting and aggravated assault, both felonies.

"It's just not true, everything they filed against me," Williams told The Associated Press. "All these charges, they just don't exist."

*His lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, seeks unspecified monetary damages.

His attorney, Timothy O'Brien, said the lawsuit targets the "unnecessary escalation of otherwise manageable situations. It's a problem within the Pittsburgh Police Department and it's a problem across the country."


http://www.timesunion.com/news/crime/article/Trooper-sues-over-arrest-force-in-wedding-brawl-6155703.php

[pipoman]

1. Hmmm...could it be karma?...only trooper Williams knows the answer

[bravenak]

2. I'm glad he sued. Maybe they might believe the rest of us now.

[damnedifIknow]

3. It's a sad situation

O'Brien said the case of Williams, who is white, proves nobody is safe from such abuses."

"If it can happen to Mr. Williams — a police officer, a state trooper — then who amongst us is not in danger of having it happen to them?" O'Brien said."

[bravenak]

4. We are at the point where nobody is safe.

Soon we'll see this happen to judges and politicians. That might help them figure out something is wrong.