PHILADELPHIA – Pottstown Hospital and Tower Health are looking to dismiss a Chester County woman’s suit which alleged that she was subjected to excessive force when arrested there two years ago by various entities within the Pottstown Police Department, for failure to state a claim.
Christine Caporaletti of Spring City first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on July 23 versus Chief Michael Markovich, Police Officers Peter Yambrick, Matthew Maciejewski, John Does 1-99, Dylan Heckart, Jane Doe, the Borough of Pottstown, Pottstown Hospital and ABC Security Company of Pottstown, plus Tower Health of West Reading.
“At all relevant times, Michael Graeff lived with plaintiff, Caporaletti, in her residence, and plaintiff considered him to be ‘like a son.’ On Thursday, July 25, 2019, Graeff was overwhelmed by a mental health crisis. Concerned for his safety, at approximately 1:22 p.m., plaintiff placed a phone call to 9-1-1 so that Graeff could receive a mental health evaluation,” the suit said.
“Sergeant Edward Ciacik of the Limerick Police Department was the first to respond and arrive at plaintiff’s home. Next, the paramedics arrived to take Graeff to Pottstown Hospital for an initial examination to determine if he should be admitted for involuntarily mental health treatment, as per Pennsylvania law and local laws/policies. Plaintiff and her daughter followed the ambulance to Pottstown Hospital.”
After going to the hospital and inquiring as to Graeff’s whereabouts, defendant Heckart [a hospital security guard] approached plaintiff and claimed, without any basis in fact, that Graeff did not want to see her and demanded that she leave the hospital. Caporaletti said she later found that this remark was false.
When the Pottstown Police defendants arrived to the hospital, the plaintiff said they arrested her in front of her daughter and roughly put her into handcuffs, just three months after she underwent arm surgery.
“Defendants Yambrick, Maciejewski and/or Doe, ignored plaintiff’s cries for help to relieve the pain in her right arm. After transporting the plaintiff to the Pottstown Police Department, an unknown police officer informed defendants Yambrick, Maciejewski and Doe, that they improperly handcuffed plaintiff. Plaintiff was charged with a singular summary count of Disorderly Conduct,” per the suit.
“As a direct and proximate result of the aforementioned acts and failures to act of defendants Markovich, Yambrick, Maciejewski, and/or Does 1-99, plaintiff suffered from the following non- exhaustive list of harms:
• Violation of her clearly established and well-settled constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution to be free from the use of unreasonable or excessive force;
• Full thickness tear of the rotator cuff involving the posterior fibers of the supraspinatus and anterior fibers of the infraspinatus;
• Moderate tendinopathy;
• Tendinopathy in the intra-articular portion of the biceps tendon;
• Bicipital tendinitis;
• Complete tear of right rotator cuff; and
• S/P arthroscopy of right shoulder.”
UPDATE
Pottstown Hospital and Tower Health moved to dismiss the case on Sept. 24, countering that the plaintiff hadn’t adequately pled her case.
“Plaintiff alleges that she was injured during her arrest by officers of the Pottstown Police Department as a result of their purportedly using excessive force. It is undisputed that neither Jane Doe, Dylan Heckart nor any other alleged employee and/or agent of moving defendants was not involved in plaintiff’s apprehension and/or arrest. Rather, the only action that they took is calling the police,” the dismissal motion stated.
“It is sheer ‘speculation and conjecture’ that by calling the police they knew or should have known that plaintiff would subsequently and allegedly be injured by police through the alleged use of unprovoked excessive force. Accordingly, as a matter of law, plaintiff has failed to establish the requisite causal connection between her injury and moving defendants’ purported employees and/or agents’ alleged acts and/or omissions. Therefore, Counts XI and XII of plaintiff’s complaint should be dismissed, with prejudice, as to moving defendants.”
The moving defendants also want to see punitive damages stripped from the case.
“If the Court should decline to dismiss plaintiff’s claims as to moving defendants in their entirety, then plaintiff’s claim for punitive damages should be dismissed, with prejudice. Simply put, plaintiff has failed to allege that moving defendants and/or their alleged employees and/or agents acted with the necessary intent required to justify an award of punitive damages,” the motion added.
For counts of excessive force, supervisor liability, bystander liability, conspiracy, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, joint participation, negligence, reckless endangerment, vicarious liability and a Monell claim, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory and punitive damages as to all defendants, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs as to all defendants, such other relief as may appear just and appropriate and a jury trial as to all claims asserted.
The plaintiff is represented by Alan E. Denenberg and Vazken Zerounian of Abramson & Denenberg, in Philadelphia.
The defendants are represented by Sheryl Lynn Brown of Siana Law in Chester Springs, plus Chilton G. Goebel III and Stephen J. Fleury Jr. of Saxton & Stump, in Malvern.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:21-cv-03293
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com