PITTSBURGH - Cops for McKeesport and Allegheny County are accused of violating the civil right of Black individuals during the pursuit of a suspect.
In a recent lawsuit filed Dec. 4 in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, plaintiffs Courtney Thompkins, Ezra Dixon, and Kim Neal sued the City of McKeesport Police Department, City of McKeesport, Allegheny County Police Department, Allegheny County, and several individuals in their official and individual capacities.
The defendants also include numerous unidentified individuals referred to as John Doe and Jane Doe.
The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU of Pennsylvania and Reed Smith LLP on behalf of the plaintiffs. The complaint alleges violation of the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs due to the conduct of the defendants.
The suit comes about as a result of a search for Koby Lee Francis, who was being sought for shooting McKeesport police officer Gerasimos Athans on Dec. 20, 2020. Francis was arrested in West Virginia, and Athans survived the shooting.
Thompkins and Dixon say they had no meaningful connection to Francis, while Neal is Francis' mother. The suit says police conducted abusive searches of their homes and vehicles without probable cause.
"Ms. Thompkins noticed that her partner, Howard Gibbons, was stopped near their shared home by two John Doe Police Defendants while Mr. Gibbons was in his vehicle on his way to work," the suit says.
"Ms. Thompkins went to her front door with plans of going outside to find out what was going on. Instead, immediately upon opening her front door, Ms. Thompkins was confronted by Police Defendants in tactical gear with guns drawn and pointed at her head.
"It was then that Ms. Thompkins noticed Police Defendants were pointing their guns at Mr. Gibbons’s head too. Ms. Thompkins, now at the wrong end of government-issued firearms, was scared, confused, and surrounded."
Thompkins, like the other plaintiffs, was not presented a search or arrest warrant and no officer could explain a basis for believing Francis might be in her home, the suit says.
Stephen Loney of the ACLU represents the plaintiffs, among other lawyers.