PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Christopher Siennick rides a skateboard in and around
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He
doesn't own a car, his transportation is a custom four-wheel
longboard.
In the early morning hours of May
16, twenty-five year old Siennick was riding his longboard
home from work. According to a federal civil rights complaint filed
by Williams Cuker Berezofsky attorney Gerald Williams in court yesterday, two
Pennsylvania State Troopers, Michael
Trotta and Ryan Luckenbaugh,
drove by the skateboarder and yelled "get off the street,
faggot."
The troopers then approached Sienneck, confronted him and then
struck with a baton and Tasered him twice. He was then handcuffed,
pepper sprayed in his eyes, and kicked in the head and face causing
pain and temporary blindness according to the complaint.
"The reason we need police is to enforce the law, not break it
themselves or enforce their own version," says Sienneck's attorney
Williams.
Sienneck was charged with 14 misdemeanors and felonies including
aggravated and simple assault, "propulsion of missiles into an
occupied vehicle," resisting arrest, reckless endangerment,
disorderly conduct, flight, obstruction of highways, drunkenness,
disregard of traffic regulations and violations of statutes
regulating pedestrians.
Upon District Attorney Ed
Marsico's review of the videotape of the encounter, he
determined there was no basis to prosecute Sienneck and dropped the
charges. By that time, the skateboarder had spent three weeks in
Dauphin County Prison with a
$250,000 bail he couldn't afford.
Marsico requested the State Police investigate the two
troopers.
The video has not yet been released despite requests filed by
the media. Williams says he requested the State Police to preserve
the footage.
In the civil complaint, Sienneck asks for a jury trial on counts
of excessive use of force, false arrest and malicious
prosecution.
"Unfortunately, the only person who paid the consequences of
this incident is Christopher Sienneck," says attorney Williams.
"The purposes of this lawsuit is to stop this kind of conduct and
make the consequences fair and put their effect where they
belong."
Christopher Sienneck is involved in both Harrisburg's skateboarding community and the
community at large. He has had prior run-ins with the law, though
he has described interacting positively with police in the
past. Sienneck is a community and social justice advocate for
civic and environmental causes. He has volunteered in a program
that teaches autistic children to ride skateboards co-sponsored by
his local police department(1) and expressed interest in running
for city council.
"What I love most," Siennick told the Patriot News in an earlier
feature on skateboarding in The Harrisburg Patriot News(2), "is my
ability to get somewhere on my own."
The case is Siennick v. Trotta and Luckenbaugh (Pennsylvania State Police), M.D.Pa (case number to be assigned)
About Williams Cuker Berezofsky
Williams Cuker Berezofsky is committed to protecting the
personal and civil rights of individuals. Founded in 1985 with
offices in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania and Cherry Hill, New
Jersey, the firm represents and litigates on behalf of
clients both locally and nationally.
The law firm also represents citizens affected by environmental
contamination at home and work, patients harmed by pharmaceutical
products or medical devices, and individuals claiming police
brutality and government abuse. Whistleblowers who come forward to
call attention to corporate or government wrongdoing contact
Williams Cuker Berezofsky to investigate, prepare and submit qui
tam and False Claims Act cases to state authorities and the U.S.
Department of Justice.
Visit www.wcblegal.com.
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SOURCE Williams Cuker Berezofsky