PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh police officer is now facing a criminal charge after an off-duty fight at a bar in Pleasant Hills.
Online court records show Richard Dilimone Jr. is charged with one count of felony aggravated assault.
Dilimone has been on administrative leave since the bar fight in early February. The off-duty officers were out celebrating a promotion when the incident happened.
Channel 11 Chief Investigator Rick Earle previously spoke to Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala, who confirmed that one of the off-duty officers used a beer bottle during the fight.
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Court records say the investigation revealed that Dilimone was the person who hit someone with a beer bottle across the forehead, causing a large laceration.
Channel 11’s Gabriella DeLuca spoke with the attorney for the man who was hit over the head. The man is reportedly “at a loss for words about what happened that night.” He reportedly got nine stitches and has met with numerous doctors “to see if they can repair the damage that was done.”
For the victim’s attorney, Casey White, the charges are both a relief and a disappointment.
“It’s kind of a double-edged sword because my client was charged with simple assault even though we cooperated with law enforcement and explained the situation and detailed what happened that night and how my client was acting in self defense,” White tells 11 Investigates.
White’s client, Edward Estes, is charged with simple assault because he’s accused of punching another off-duty officer in the nose during the fight. But White claims Estes was just trying to break it up. He says he got his friend out of the bar and then returned.
“He went back to the City of Pittsburgh police officer and told him everything is good, everthing is quiet,” White said. “And that’s when the City of Pittsburgh officer escalated it, and my client acted in self-defense, and the individual, the police officer charged today, smashed a beer bottle over my client’s head.”
Dilimone’s attorney, Phil Dilucente, had no comment today, but said: “We’ll have plenty to say at the preliminary hearing.”
This isn’t Dilimone’s first run-in with the law. In 2018, while driving his patrol car, he was charged with causing an accident while not properly licensed and driving without a license.
His license had expired about three weeks before he crashed into the rear bumper of a pickup truck that slammed into a car on the South Side, injuring a woman.
It’s unclear what happened with that case, as all of the records have been removed from the online portal.
Three other officers were also placed on administrative leave while the incident was being investigated. They’ve since returned to work and have not been charged.
According to a statement from public safety officials, “Detective Dilimone remains on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the legal process in this matter.”
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