Prior incident:
Mayor examining allegations against two Ellwood City officers
Eric Poole
epoole@ellwoodcityledger.com
ELLWOOD CITY -- Mayor Anthony Court met Friday with a Patterson Township man who alleges that two Ellwood City police officers used excessive force against him in an incident March 5.
Perry Malcolm released a phone video of his encounter with two Ellwood City police officers last week to the Beaver Countian online news outlet. That video, in which many of the images were obscured, includes sound recordings of the police encounter with Malcolm.
Court said he was gathering information on the incident, but said there was no timetable for a release of findings.
"There's so much involved in this case and it takes time," the mayor said.
Malcolm said he was "generally satisfied" after the meeting. While Malcolm is still considering legal action, he said that he is waiting on the outcome of Court's investigation.
"I don't really want anything monetary-wise," Malcolm said. "I just want to make sure this doesn't happen again."
According to a criminal complaint filed March 5 with District Judge Jerry G. Cartwright, Malcolm met with Patrolman Matt Kennedy just before 6 p.m. March 5 to discuss a parking ticket Malcolm had received. The audio portion of the recording indicates that Kennedy told Malcolm he would have to speak to Lt. David Kingston, the department's operations supervisor and highest-ranking uniformed officer.
Kennedy also said Kingston was not on duty that day, a Sunday. The recording shows that Malcolm swore twice at Kennedy, and the officer responded that the cursing would result in a disorderly conduct citation.
A short time later, about three minutes into Malcolm's video, which is nearly seven minutes long, a second officer -- identified in the criminal complaint as Patrolman Robert Magnifico -- joined Kennedy.
Magnifico told Malcolm that it was illegal to swear in a public place. The American Civil Liberties Union Pennsylvania asserts that there are no laws against swearing in public and has won lawsuits in state appellate court to that effect.
The sound on Malcolm's video indicates that the discussion between him and the two officers became increasingly heated until police moved to take him into custody, using a Taser in an attempt to subdue Malcolm.
He said one of the officers told him to turn around, but he couldn't comply with that order because the other officer was holding him down.
Malcolm can be heard on the video yelling for the officers to stop shocking him, as an officer responds by demanding that Malcolm let go of the Taser. He said the Taser shocks were forcing his hand to contract, which prevented him from releasing the device.
"In my mind, I didn't push anybody, I didn't swing at anybody," he said.
Malcolm was charged with disarming a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Court said the Lawrence County District Attorney's office dismissed the felony disarming and misdemeanor resisting arrest charges after witnessing Malcolm's video.
The mayor said he is still reviewing reports, Malcolm's video and a borough surveillance video during the incident and that Ellwood City Solicitor Edward Leymarie is advising his office on procedures for his examination of the incident.
"My initial impression is that this could have been avoided," Court said. "This never should have gotten to my desk."