Watch CBS News

Pittsburgh Police Reviewing Video Of Violent Confrontation Between Officers, 2 Men

Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Authorities are investigating a 52-second cell phone video, posted to Facebook, which appears to show a violent confrontation between Pittsburgh Police and two men.

The incident happened outside PPG Paints Arena late Tuesday night after the Roger Waters concert.

KDKA's Christine D'Antonio Reports --

Cell phone video shows Pittsburgh Police punching a man, slamming his head on the concrete and shouting profanity. They also attempted to tase him multiple times.

The man is 47-year-old Daniel Adelman, of Ravenna, Ohio. He's charged with obstructing apprehension, resisting arrest and public drunkenness.

daniel-adelman
Daniel Adelman (Source: Allegheny County)

The Citizen Police Review Board is now investigating to determine if this was unnecessary force.

They won't say yet if it is, but they have reached one conclusion about the extremely foul language used by at least one cop.

"It's not a professional representation of a police officer for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police," Elizabeth Pittinger said. "It should not be tolerated."

Watch Paul Martino's report --

 

This all started when police recognized David Jones, who was wanted for forgery and had previously fled from a police officer who tried to serve a warrant. When police had a confrontation with him, they say Adelman jumped in and tried to stop the arrest.

david-jones
David Jones (Source: Allegheny County)

"Whether or not the use of force was reasonable, appropriate and necessary will be determined by other facts from witness accounts and other sources of information," Pittinger said.

Adelman and Jones were both sent to the Allegheny County Jail.

Adelman was released Wednesday afternoon. He spoke exclusively to KDKA-TV's Marty Griffin and watched video of the confrontation for the first time.

Watch Marty Griffin's report --

 

He said his right shoulder is dislocated, he has cuts and bruises and he has stitches on his face.

"I mean, I did take a beating," he said.

Adelman says he got involved in the altercation because he thought the police officer attempting to arrest Jones was in trouble.

"I was smoking a cigarette, and I see an officer with a suit on, and then I see this other guy and I thought the officer in the suit was in trouble," Adelman said. "So I went down there and, you know, and then all hell broke loose."

He believes he blacked out at some point, but he remembers much of the incident.

"I do know the officer got me on the ground and was punching me straight in the face real good," he said. "I think I remember grabbing his hand and told him, 'Listen. No more hitting,' basically."

Adelman admits he's not sure if he would have gotten involved if he hadn't been drinking.

"In the end, it was probably not the right situation to jump in without knowing the situation," he said.

Adelman went straight to the hospital after being released from jail and then planned to return home to Ohio.

He's expected to return to Pittsburgh to face his charges on Oct. 4.

In a release Wednesday afternoon, Pittsburgh Police said one of the officers involved in the incident – Officer Andrew Jacobs – has been placed on desk duty.

"We have a zero tolerance for excessive force among Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Officers. Our management of use of force includes an automatic review of every incident in which force is used when making an arrest," Chief Scott Schubert said in the release. "In addition, we have initiated a review that is being conducted by our Office of Professional Standards so that we can ensure that the use of force was objectively reasonable considering the situation confronted by the officers."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.