VESTAL, N.Y. - A video gone viral this month has put a
handful of Pennsylvania State Cops under fire in the alleged beating of Vestal
man Robert Leone.
Leone is suing the State Police claiming he was physically
beaten, Tased and verbally assaulted over the course of nine hours while in
their custody, CBS affiliate WBNG reports.
Leone, 31, filed the lawsuit in March, saying he was
subjected to hours of beatings and electrical shocks by Pennsylvania state
troopers. A 37-minute video that was posted to YouTube claims to walk viewers
through the alleged assault following Leone's March 2010 arrest along Route 6
in Bradford County, Pa.
Leone was convicted of four charges stemming from the
incident, including assaulting a cop, and is imprisoned in the Bradford County
Correctional Facility. Bradford County District Attorney Dan Barrett said Leone
had abusive levels of the stimulant drug Adderall in his system at the time of
his arrest.
WBNG says it has seen video of the confrontation shot by
police.
"Do you know who you're messing with? This is the
Pennsylvania State Police," a cop is heard saying on the tape.
According to Leone's lawsuit, he was beaten at the scene of
the arrest and state troopers wouldn't allow him to be transported to the
hospital by an ambulance. According to the suit, Trooper Scott Renfer rode in
the ambulance instead after he broke his hand while allegedly beating Leone.
Leone, states the suit, was taken to the hospital by police, hogtied in the
back of the police vehicle.
"He has excruciating pains to this day," Joan
Leone, Robert's mother, told WBNG. "He said in the beginning they had to
physically pick him up off the slab because he could not move himself."
After an initial trip to the hospital, WBNG reports that the
lawsuit alleges Leone was brought back to the Towanda State Police Barracks
where he was shot with a Taser, pepper sprayed, and beaten again. He was then
taken to the hospital for a second time and treated for wounds to his face, the
suit claims.
"They put him on the phone and he starts screaming that
he has been beaten within an inch of his life," Joan Leone told WBNG.
"They tried to kill him through the night. He has been threatened that
they are going to kill him and make it look like a suicide or an
accident."
Joan Leone told the station that as soon as her son said
that, the police pulled the phone from him and left her disconnected. Leone's
family said they believe authorities wanted to keep their son imprisoned for
the maximum four years in an attempt to let the statute of limitations run out,
meaning that the state troopers involved couldn't be held responsible.
"The corruption in PA is so widespread that they're
going to keep him in for four years. Because they have no intention of letting
him out because he's going to be speaking about what's happened to him,"
Joan Leone said.
The Bradford County Commissioners released a statement
saying they are concerned about the allegations, but inquiries regarding
Leone's arrest should be directed to the Pennsylvania State Police.