PHILADELPHIA – The estate of a man left at a bus stop while in an intoxicated state by Marple Township police officers and killed by a passing vehicle shortly thereafter two years ago, has launched civil rights litigation against the Township, its Police Department and a plethora of officers she believes are responsible for the man’s death.
Vonda Pearson (as Administratrix of the Estate of Cornell D. Pearson) of Philadelphia filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Nov. 12 versus Marple Township, Marple Township Police Department, Chief Brandon M. Graeff, Lt. Frank Hannigan, Lt. Sean Hannigan, Officers David Lerro, Raymond Stiles and Morgan Ditmer, Det. Joseph McGettigan, Sgt. Nicholas P. Coffins (each individually and in their official capacities as members of the Marple Township Police Department), John Does 1-15 and Jane Does 1-5.
“On the evening of Nov. 13, 2021 at 7:21 p.m., Marple Township Police Officers Stiles Lerro and Ditmer, were dispatched to Marshall’s at 400 S. State Road, for the suspicious person call of a Black male looking into vehicles in the parking lot. Upon arrival they encountered Cornell D. Pearson, who was visibly intoxicated, waiting in the Marshall’s parking lot for his girlfriend to finish working her shift at Marshall’s that evening. There is no indication in the incident report that any sobriety testing was done with Mr. Pearson. There is no indication in the incident report that Mr. Pearson was being arrested for any reason,” the suit states.
“Officers Stiles Lerro and Ditmer would not permit Mr. Pearson to stay in the Marshall’s parking lot and wait for his girlfriend as intended, so Mr. Pearson requested a ride to his home in Philadelphia. Officers Stiles Lerro and Ditmer declined to take Mr. Pearson home. Though Mr. Pearson was not being arrested or detained, he was transported by Officer Lerro, with the direction and/or approval of Officer Stiles, to the bus station on West Chester Pike and Sproul Road, so that he could then get a second bus to 69th Street [Station in Upper Darby] that would then take him to Philadelphia. Officers Stiles, Lerro and Ditmer knew that Mr. Pearson was visibly intoxicated.”
The suit continues that dashboard camera audio of the transport showed Mr. Pearson is slurring, mumbling and speaking incoherently, repeatedly asking Officer Lerro where he was taking him, that he wanted to go home to Philadelphia and that his girlfriend was going to be mad that he was not waiting for her at the Marshall’s parking lot.
“Despite Mr. Pearson’s highly-intoxicated and vulnerable condition, Officer Lerro left him at a bus stop in the middle of West Chester Pike, a busy, 40-mile-per-hour [speed limit], four-lane highway separated by a grass median, on a cold, dark evening in November. Officer Lerro left Mr. Pearson at the bus station at 7:59 p.m. and began to pull away. Officer Lerro was barely a couple of blocks away when he heard ‘a loud thud behind’ his vehicle at 8:06 p.m., less than seven minutes after leaving Mr. Pearson at the bus station. Officer Lerro made a U-Turn and observed Mr. Pearson face down on the grass median, unresponsive. The loud thud Officer Lerro heard was Mr. Pearson being fatally struck by an SUV as he attempted to cross West Chester Pike,” the suit says.
“Mr. Pearson was transported by EMS to Lankenau Hospital in critical condition and pronounced dead at 8:59 p.m. The toxicology report established that Mr. Pearson had a blood alcohol concentration level of .238 at the time of his death, almost three times the legal limit of .08 permitted for driving while under the influence. Officers Stiles, Lerro and Ditmer knew that Mr. Pearson was highly-intoxicated and recklessly left him at a bus station in the middle of a major, four-lane highway with a 40-mile-per-hour speed limit, separated by a median, knowing he would be more likely to step into the roadway and be fatally struck and killed, than someone who was not in his intoxicated state. The training programs for handling intoxicated persons at Marple Township and Marple Township Police Department, created and enforced by Chief Graeff, Lieutenant Frank Hannigan, Lieutenant Sean Hannigan, Detective McGettigan, and Sergeant Coffin, were inadequate. Defendants were deliberately indifferent to the inadequacy of the training programs for handling intoxicated persons, which caused the indifference of Police Officers Stiles, Lerro and Ditmer to Mr. Pearson’s intoxication and need for assistance, resulting in his horrific and untimely death at 56 years old.”
For a count of civil rights deprivation under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages, nominal damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, costs and expenses related to this action, injunctive relief to correct government procedure to prevent future injury and all such other relief as the Court deems just.
The plaintiff is represented by Joseph L. Messa Jr. and Alaina A. Gregorio of Messa & Associates, in Philadelphia.
The defendants have not yet obtained legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:23-cv-04444
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com