PITTSBURGH – An 87-year-old Western Pennsylvania man with a heart condition says he was detained by police on suspicion of being a car thief, because the OnStar system in his vehicle erroneously reported it to law enforcement authorities as stolen.
Robert Masterson Sr. of Bairdford filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Dec. 2 versus Onstar, LLC, (c/o Corporation Service Company) of Harrisburg.
OnStar was engaged in the business of providing subscription-based, in-vehicle service and telematics on select, properly-equipped General Motors vehicles. The in-vehicle service and telematics provided by defendant OnStar, LLC, included a service defendant marketed and sold as “stolen vehicle assistance.”
Plaintiff Robert Masterson Sr. was the operator of a 2017 Chevrolet Equinox motor vehicle, which was a subscriber to the OnStar service. The stolen vehicle service would provide the make, model, color, vehicle identification number and satellite tracking information to law enforcement authorities, to assist in pursuit and recovery of the vehicle, plus the apprehension of the unlawful driver.
“The incident which gives rise to this complaint occurred on April 20, 2020 on East Jefferson Street in Butler, at which time and place plaintiff was lawfully operating his vehicle,” the suit states.
“On the above date, an officer of the Butler Township Police Department, and one or more officers of the Butler City Police Department, utilizing sirens and lights on Butler Township and Butler City patrol cars, executed a traffic stop of plaintiff’s vehicle while it was being lawfully operated by plaintiff at the above-described location.”
The stop was initiated based upon a stolen vehicle assistance report provided by OnStar, which stated the plaintiff’s vehicle had been stolen in Chicago and was now in Butler Township. The plaintiff says that report was false.
“The police officers exited their police vehicles, drew firearms and while in a shooting stance, demanded that plaintiff ‘show his hands’ out of the driver’s window of plaintiff’s vehicle. Plaintiff was removed from his vehicle by multiple police officers, still with their weapons drawn, and made to stand alongside his vehicle with his hands on the roof, while he was subjected to a police search,” per the suit.
“For the next 20 minutes, the plaintiff remained under police detention outside of plaintiff’s vehicle, on the side of a public highway, and in full view of passing motorists and the public at large.”
About 30 minutes later, Masterson was advised by a Butler Township police officer that he was an innocent victim and had been detained due to a false stolen vehicle report provided by OnStar. Masterson was then released from custody, but had to wait for OnStar to unlock the vehicle ignition so that he could leave the scene.
“At the time, plaintiff was 87 years of age and suffered from a cardiac condition commonly known as angina,” the suit says, a condition which was greatly aggravated by the circumstances of the subject incident and impacted Masterson’s health.
For multiple counts of negligence, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of $35,000, plus a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Edward J. Balzarini Jr. of Balzarini & Watson, in Pittsburgh.
The defendant has not yet secured legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-20-012232
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com