Wesley Eggleston II was sitting in his car doing nothing illegal when four white Pennsylvania cops opened his doors and attacked him, pointing a gun at his chest before pulling him out onto the street, then choking, punching, kneeing and tasering the 42-year-old Black man without explanation.
It was only after Eggleston was battered, bruised, and handcuffed on the ground that the four cops realized they had made a mistake and removed the handcuffs.
But a police supervisor arrived on the scene and tried to justify the abuse by claiming Eggleston had tried to flee the scene.
But that was a lie, according to a lawsuit filed on Jan. 16 in federal court, which states the two law enforcement agencies involved in this incident, Pennsylvania State Police and the Parkesburg Police Department, routinely abuse citizens and ignore their complaints.
“Despite repeated incidents/complaints of excessive use of force committed by PSP troopers and Parkesburg Police Officers, regardless of the instrument of force utilized, no significant efforts were made to establish or ensure actual proper use of force standards were promulgated, disseminated and enforced,” states the claim filed by Pennsylvania attorneys Robert E. Goldman and Gerald P. Egan.
“No efforts were made to ensure citizens’ Constitutional rights were not violated. And, no discipline or remedial training was implemented when such abuses occurred in the past.”
The beating was recorded on a neighbor’s surveillance camera, but internal affairs made no effort to investigate the incident, the filing states. Atlanta Black Star reached out to his attorneys to inquire about the video, but they have not yet responded.
‘He Could Not Breathe’
The incident took place the morning of Jan. 31, 2024, as Eggleston was parked in front of a home to pick up a health care worker client to drive her home from her appointment, as he had done several times previously.
“Two of the officers came towards his vehicle and stared at him, appearing hostile and aggressive to him,” the claim states.
“As the officers continued to stare at Eggleston, he rolled down his window to ask whether there was a problem and immediately one of the officers asked him for his name and he calmly responded, ‘My name is Wesley.’”
The cops then began yelling at him to step out of the car. When Eggleston repeatedly asked why he had to step out, they refused to provide an explanation, instead demanding to know why he was at that location in the first place.
“He explained that he was a businessman, that he owned his own business, and that he was there to pick up his client for a scheduled 10:30 a.m. transport from the very house in front of where he was parked,” the claim states.
But the cops never asked for his identification, nor did they approach the residence to confirm with his client if he was telling the truth. Instea,d the cops opened his doors without consent and began forcing him out.
“At that moment, one officer pointed what appeared to Eggleston to be a firearm directly at his chest and Eggleston feared for his life,” the claim states.
“Another officer then jumped onto Eggleston’s neck and began choking him. In shock and fear, Eggleston attempted to comply and exit the vehicle.”
Once out of the car, the cops forced him to the ground, and one of them tasered him in his lower back.
“Reacting to the extreme pain, Eggleston reached behind him, attempting to pull the taser wire from his body,” the claim states.
“When he grabbed the wire, his hand immediately clamped shut due to the electrical current, and he was unable to release it. This caused additional and extreme pain throughout his body.”
“The officers then handcuffed him and while he was restrained and on the ground, an officer who was on top of him punched him in the mouth,” the claim states.
“He then drove his knee into his neck with such force that he could not breathe. While restrained, the officer scraped his face against the hard cement.”
‘No Discipline of Any Kind Was Imposed’
It was only after they had abused him without explanation that they asked for his identification, which he provided. But the supervisor then arrived and tried to gaslight him about trying to flee.
His client then stepped out of the home and confirmed he was there to pick her up.
The cops left without transporting him to jail, but both departments have since refused to release the names of the officers involved in the beating to Eggleston’s attorneys, which is why they are listed as “John Does” in the lawsuit.
The claim also states that both law enforcement agencies “have a history of not disciplining or terminating even the most egregious Troopers and officers, allowing these violators to resign and keep their pensions, with no action taken against these individuals.”
“No discipline of any kind was imposed upon the instant Defendants, nor any other of the PSP and Parkesburg personnel that assisted in covering up the clearly unconstitutional conduct committed against Eggleston.”
“This lack of an appropriate, independent and objective investigation and lack of any subsequent discipline or corrective action, is a long-standing practice and custom of PSP and Parkesburg.”
The lawsuit accuses both agencies of excessive force, unlawful seizure, failure to intervene and civil conspiracy.
Also listed as defendants, along with the John Doe cops, are Parkesburg Mayor John Hagan, Parkesburg Police Chief Ryan Murtagh, and former Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris, who are accused of supervisory liability for allowing their officers to violate the rights of the people they were sworn to protect and serve.
“Supervisors and decision-makers such as Paris, Mayor Hagan, and Chief Murtagh were not only deliberately indifferent to violations of citizens’ Constitutional rights, but actually condoned, if not encouraged, same, and, that, that acquiescence had become a custom or de facto policy within their law enforcement entities,” the claim states.
The lawsuit is asking for at least $150,000 in damages, stating the brutal attack on Eggleston left him with a loss of income as well as physical and mental pain, “including discomfort, loss of use of bodily function, ill health, loss of sleep, and other emotional injuries including stigma, scarring, humiliation, distress, fright, PTSD, and emotional trauma.”
“PSP and Parkesburg engaged in no investigation at all, and if any was conducted, it was only a superficial, pro forma investigation, and a coverup,” Eggleston’s attorneys wrote..
