PITTSBURGH — Weeks after Channel 11 learned that several off-duty Pittsburgh police officers were involved in a bar fight, all but one are now back on the job.
Four officers were placed on paid administrative leave while the incident at a Pleasant Hills bar was investigated.
On Thursday, a Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson confirmed that three of the four officers had been cleared and returned to duty, leaving one still on leave. The spokesperson directed us to Pleasant Hills police for further details on the investigation.
So far, no one has been charged.
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This week, Channel 11 spoke with District Attorney Stephen Zappala, who’s reviewing the case.
“One of the guys from the city, he took a bottle to somebody’s head. What the hell? It’s a problem,” Zappala said.
Channel 11’s Gabriella DeLuca spoke with the attorney for a man who was hit over the head with a beer bottle by one of those officers. The man is reportedly “at a loss for words about what happened that night.”
“He’s received nine stitches and met with a number of doctors and plastic surgeons to see if they can repair the damage that was done,” defense attorney Casey White said.
White tells Channel 11 that his client’s friend got into a physical fight with several off-duty officers. His client broke up the fight, escorted his friend out of the bar, then went back to talk to the officers.
“My client then went and approached the other individuals, telling them that there’s no issues here,” White said. “The individual who they were arguing with was escorted out of the premises, and that’s when he was verbally confronted, threatened and accosted.”
According to White, the officers implied that his client was going to get hurt.
“The other individuals reescalated the situation by threatening him and said he was going to get knocked out and he was next. (He) came over out of nowhere and hit my client over the head with a beer bottle and sliced his head open across his forehead.”
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White says his client is a true victim.
“He was threatened and felt threatened. Verbal threats were thrown at him, and it appeared he was going to get hit by someone or something, and ultimately he did.”
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