Lawsuit accuses Allegheny County, McCandless police of civil rights violations in DUI arrest

An Allegheny County Jail corrections officer taunted a handcuffed Hampton man while shocking him with a Taser last year, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit.

“That feels good baby,” the lawsuit claims a corrections officer said to plaintiff Brian Estep, 30, who was being processed at the lockup on drunk-driving charges.

In December, Estep sued the county, an unnamed corrections officer listed as “John Doe,” and Patrick Jennings, a McCandless police officer, in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. The case was moved on Jan. 21 to federal court in Pittsburgh.

Estep is seeking a jury trial and compensatory and punitive damages of more than $75,000.

McCandless police arrested Estep on Feb. 6, 2024, after a two-car crash in the North Hills around 2:20 a.m. and took him to the jail, according to a criminal complaint.

Police said Estep fought with them during the arrest and prior to the incident at the jail.

A short body camera video included with the lawsuit shows at least five uniformed officers, including the one taking the video, surrounding Estep in a holding cell at the jail.

“You’ve got one being combative,” one of the officers says as Estep is pushed against a wall.

While Estep was inside the holding cell waiting to be searched with his arms handcuffed behind his back, Jennings told his colleague, Officer Todd Ray, to leave the room because his chest-mounted camera was recording the encounter, the lawsuit claimed.

“Dude get out of here; you got your (expletive) on,” Jennings said, according to the lawsuit.

“Close it,” Jennings ordered, motioning to the door.

Ray left the cell but kept his body camera on, the lawsuit said.

By then, Estep was on the ground. Within seconds of Ray leaving, the video appears to show, one of the people in the room shocked Estep with a Taser.

The camera picked up sounds of Estep grunting as the Taser was being deployed.

“As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on lawsuits,” jail spokesman Jesse Geleynse said Friday.

Jail administrators review all use-of-force incidents and turn them over, when necessary, to Allegheny County Police, Geleynse said.

Brian Englert, president of the Allegheny County Prison Employees Independent Union, told TribLive on Friday that corrections officers at the jail typically do not carry a Taser.

Sergeants who are employed by the county’s Bureau of Corrections, however, do typically carry Tasers.

McCandless police and township administrators did not respond to emails or phone calls.

Estep — who is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighed 160 lbs at the time of his arrest — “posed no threat” and did not physically resist, Giannetti wrote in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit described the force used against Estep as excessive and unreasonable and claimed the incident resulted from a jail practice of “using Tasers on restrained arrestees.”

“This one kind of speaks for itself,” Giannetti told TribLive Friday.

Allegheny County’s lockup topped the state list for use-of-force incidents involving a “stun device,” according to self-reported statistics compiled by the state Department of Corrections.

There were 183 such incidents at the Allegheny County Jail in 2023 — nearly 43% of the statewide total. That was followed by Berks County, which had 32 incidents, according to corrections data.

‘Do what you gotta do’

Before the incident at the jail, there was a confrontation at the scene of the arrest, the intersection of Ferguson Road and Duncan Avenue.

Jennings said he smelled alcohol on Estep’s breath, the complaint said. Estep told police he had been drinking water at an area bar, but he “swayed side to side while walking,” police said.

Jennings had Estep perform several sobriety tests, the complaint said. Police said they drew blood from Estep but did not provide his blood alcohol level readings in court records.

“Do what you gotta do,” Estep told Jennings, according to the complaint.

When Jennings tried to handcuff Estep, Estep “began to tense up” and asked why he was being arrested, the complaint said.

A second officer came over, wrapped his arm around Estep’s chest and took Estep to the ground, according to the complaint.

Jennings said he yelled “Taser!” three times, shocked Estep twice, then used a tactic known as a “drive-stun” against Estep, pushing the Taser against Estep’s body and activating it, the complaint said.

Some groups and federal officials have raised concerns about drive-stunning, which causes pain but does not incapacitate a suspect.

The Taser was “knocked out of” Jennings’ hand and Jennings fell to the ground as the Taser’s wires wrapped under his leg, the complaint said.

An officer punched Estep “with a closed fist, in the left cheek, to create distance,” the complaint said.

Eventually, police subdued Estep and arrested him on six charges, including DUI, aggravated assault and resisting arrest.

Estep was found guilty on DUI and simple assault charges during a non-jury trial in September in front of Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkwoski. He was found not guilty of aggravated assault. Prosecutors withdraw several other charges.

Borkowski sentenced Estep to 18 months of probation, court records show.