Lawsuit claims Pittsburgh police officer used excessive force

PITTSBURGH — An attorney is calling for a full investigation into a Pittsburgh police officer after surveillance video surfaced, showing that officer appearing to use his Taser on the son of a local business owner in the owner's downtown restaurant.

The veteran police officer is now under investigation for the act.

The alleged victim's attorney held a news conference Thursday afternoon.

He told Channel 11 this was a direct abuse of power that happened inside a downtown pizza shop.

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Surveillance video shows what happened inside of Villa Reale Pizzeria and Restaurant in October.

The victim's attorney alleges Pittsburgh Police Officer Ronald Hough used his Taser on restaurant worker Dominic Reale "for no reason."

In the video, you can see Reale and Hough joking around.

Eventually, Hough deploys the Taser, something Reale's attorney says never should have happened, and Reale is seen struggling.

Seconds later, Hough helps remove the prongs.

"We need to believe in our police officers and the police officers that work with him have to be confident that the person standing next to them is not going to make a foolish mistake in a combat situation," Reale's attorney, Joel Sansone said.

Channel 11 has confirmed that the Citizens Review Board, the city's Office of Municipal Investigations and Pittsburgh Police have all launched their own investigations.

"I feel shocked. I feel threatened. I'm just really upset," alleged victim Dominic Reale said.

Sansone said he does not want police officers to patronize this restaurant.

"This was an innocuous situation in which no one should have been put in danger," he said. "There was no excuse for the use of force here."

Pittsburgh Police said Reale has not cooperated or handed over the video.

Cox Media Group