PITTSBURGH – A Cumberland County man who broke into a Farrell supermarket and suffered a gunshot wound to the head by an officer alleges excessive force was used.
Robert Zeman filed a complaint Dec. 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against the city of Farrell, Chief Jon Rococi, John Doe, the city of Hermitage, Chief Eric Jewell and John Doe 2 alleging violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and failure to implement municipal policies and practices.
According to his complaint, Zeman unlawfully entered the Farrell Golden Dawn supermarket at 1 a.m. on Dec. 6, 2018, and the Farrell Police Department and Hermitage Police Department were dispatched to the scene for an alleged trespassing and burglary.
The suit states Zeman climbed through a drop ceiling to hide, fell through the ceiling in front of police officers, and pulled himself back up into the ceiling. He alleges when the officers did not leave, he climbed out onto a storage shelf, encountered a police officer, ran away and Doe fired his weapon and struck the plaintiff in the top of his head.
The suit states the plaintiff was transferred to a hospital and diagnosed with a gunshot wound to the head, open depressed fracture of skull and other injuries.
The plaintiff alleges Doe's use of force against him was an application of excessive force
Zeman seeks judgment against the defendants, a trial by jury and all other proper relief. He is represented by D. Aaron Rihn of Robert Peirce & Associates PC in Pittsburgh.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case number 2:19-CV-01637-DSC