"Driving while black" can still get you in trouble
in Pittsburgh, attorney Timothy P. O'Brien said Thursday upon filing a lawsuit
against the city and two officers.
"This lawsuit brings to light again, 20 years after the
Rodney King case, that this kind of police misconduct is still going on,"
Mr. O'Brien said. He filed suit in U.S. District Court on behalf of Anthony
Kenney, 38, of Perry North, who was arrested in December 2010 and charged with
fleeing or eluding an officer, along with traffic violations.
A police criminal complaint said that officers were in an
unmarked vehicle when Mr. Kenney's car "failed to come to a complete stop
at the stop sign ... [and] failed to use a left turn signal."
Anthony Kenney "continued another block and then pulled
over," according to the police report. He "refused to exit" the
car, so Detective Matthew Turko used the arm bar technique to remove him, the
report said. The report said that Mr. Kenney "complained of pain to his
chin area where he hit the ground." It made no reference to a struggle.
The lawsuit filed Thursday said that Detective Turko struck
Mr. Kenney twice on his head, handcuffed him and "began punching him
repeatedly in the face." The officer took Mr. Kenney to the ground and
"continued to beat him," it said, until Detective Robert Smith saw a
woman watching from a window.
That woman, Sahara Banks, testified at Anthony Kenney's
criminal trial in January that she "heard him begging for them to stop
hitting him." Mr. Kenney was convicted of fleeing or eluding and given
three months' probation.
Attorney Margaret Schuetz, also representing Mr. Kenney,
said the officers told him: "If you go home and don't tell anybody about
this we'll drop the charges." Mr. Kenney instead reported the incident to
an officer he met at Allegheny General Hospital when he went there for
treatment. He also contacted the FBI, and Ms. Schuetz said the agency has an
open investigation.
Anthony Kenney's brother, Ulysses Kenney, also was in the
car but fled. He was caught and later convicted of cocaine possession and
sentenced to two to nine months in jail.
City Solicitor Daniel Regan said he was not aware of any FBI
probe and said the city was "reviewing [the lawsuit] and would respond in
our pleadings."
The lawsuit named the city, detectives Turko and Smith, and
Chief Nate Harper. It said that Mr. Kenney suffered facial bruising,
embarrassment, humiliation and distress, and demanded compensatory and punitive
damages.