PHILADELPHIA - A Darby man is suing two police officers for allegedly using excessive force and making an unlawful arrest.
Richard Schafferman filed a lawsuit July 6 in U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Brian Schwenger and Michael Martin, two Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority police officers, for violating his civil rights.
According to the filing, the plaintiff was standing on the subway platform in City Hall Station in Philadelphia on July 6, 2103, when two police officers approached and arrested him without cause or justification.
The filing alleges that the officers told the plaintiff he was being arrested for disorderly conduct and the proceeded to punch and strike him in the back of the head with a baton.
The filing states that the officers continued to beat and taunt the plaintiff, kicking him down the subway stairs and kicking him on the ground.
The filing also states that the officers falsified police paperwork, which caused the plaintiff to be charged with aggravated assault on a police officer.
According to the filing, Schafferman was found not guilty by a jury on the charge of aggravated assault on May 29, 2014.
The plaintiff seeks a judgment in his favor for compensatory damages, attorney’s fees and court costs. He is represented by Gary Bailey of the Law Firm Bailey and Associates.
U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania case number 2:15-cv-03731-LFR.