A Bristol Township man has filed a lawsuit against numerous police officers and medics along with two townships in which he alleges they displayed “unreasonable use of force, false arrest, and malicious prosecution.”
David Niedrist, 44, of Levittown, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania last week. Along with a number of individual police officers and medics, he sued Bristol Township, Falls Township, and the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad.
Advertisements
Niedrist’s attorney, Alan Yatvin, and the other parties listed in the lawsuit did not return requests for comment that were made on Thursday. Bucks County Courier Times’ reporter Jo Ciavaglia first broke the news.
According to the lawsuit, Niedrist was in a parked car at his house on Indian Creek Entry with his four minor kids and his nephew on April 2, 2017. He began experiencing a tonic-clonic seizure and his nephew dialed 9-1-1 to report the seizure.
Police and medics were advised by a dispatcher, according to the lawsuit, and found Niedrist in a “semi-conscious” post-seizure state. He claims that he was unable to comply with their demands.
Advertisements
“Although Plaintiff was not a threat to any officer, EMT, any other person or himself, the individual defendants used physical force against him,including, repeatedly punched, kicked, struck with a baton, and deployed a Taser or electronic control device (ECD) against [Niedrist],” the lawsuit states.
Niedrist reportedly was hospitalized for four days with injuries to his ribs, kidneys, back, face, and head.
Advertisements
While in the hospital, Niedrist awoke with police guarding him, the lawsuit said.
On April 7, 2017, according to the lawsuit and county court dockets, Niedrist was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and two counts of harassment.
The aggravated assault charge was dismissed by District Judge Joanne Kline on July 18, 2017. The other offenses stuck and were moved to Doylestown for trial.
Advertisements
In early 2018, a jury before Bucks County Judge Raymond McHugh found Niedrist not guilty of all the remaining charges, court papers stated.
The newspaper who broke the story said they had viewed a nine-minute cellphone video of the incident that was captured by a neighbor. The publication did not release a copy of the video. LevittownNow.com has not reviewed the video but has heard a previous account of it.
Advertisements
In the lawsuit, it was stated that Niedrist had to obtain a private attorney and spend $40,000.55 on his defense against the charges filed by authorities.
“The arrest and detention of Plaintiff by the Defendant officers, acting in concert, were retaliatory, punitive and undertaken to cover-up the misconduct of the defendant officers and thus constituted a violation of, and conspiracy to, violate Plaintiff’s constitutional and statutory rights,” the lawsuit claimed.
Advertisements
Niedrist made the claim in his filing that the actions by authorities were “malicious” and “intentional.” He also claimed that authorities caused serious injuries and caused him to spend his funds and led to a loss of earnings.
“Since the incident, the individual Defendant officers continue to harass and retaliate against Plaintiff by singling him out for police observation and following him when he is driving, in the hope of spotting a traffic violation or other conduct which they can use to justify retaliatory arrest, citations,” the lawsuit said.
Advertisements
The lawsuit noted that the defendants failed to “provide adequate training and resources for crisis intervention teams of police officers, EMTs and others to respond to emergencies involving persons with health disabilities including, but not limited to the treatment and transportation of persons who exhibit the signs and symptoms of seizure and its aftereffects.”
Niedrist is seeking to cover his costs and is asking the court for further relief.
DAVID NIEDRIST v. Bristol T… by on Scribd
Advertisements
