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Report: Lawsuit Alleges City Officers Used Excessive Force During Arrest

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A lawsuit filed by a 25-year-old North Side man alleges six officers severely beat him when he tried to run during an arrest, leaving him bloody and with a broken leg.

According to our partners at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Devon Davis filed a lawsuit against Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay and the city. It surrounds an arrest in 2015 in which Davis claims officers used excessive force while bringing him into custody.

On Feb. 25, 2015, Davis was wanted on several bench warrants, and when officers spotted him Downtown, they pursued. He sped away, which led to a crash at Fort Pitt Boulevard and Wood Street.

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Five people were injured in the incident. Two children were also involved, one in the backseat of each vehicle. But police say they were strapped in properly and not hurt.

Davis got out of the crashed vehicle and ran.

In a criminal complaint, police wrote than one officer performed a "leg sweep," to take Davis to the ground.

Officers said he continued to resist, and several officers struck Davis throughout the ordeal.

The lawsuit claims that Davis wasn't resisting after he was taken to the ground. Police say Davis' leg injuries were the result of the car crash, but the lawsuit says the officers caused his injuries.

The lawsuit cites improper training and frustration with city leadership as factors that led to the alleged excessive force.

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