5 days ago
Meadville taps ex-FBI agent to review police action in physical confrontation with man
MEADVILLE — City officials have tapped a retired FBI agent to review the actions of some of its police officers on July 11 when they were captured on a widely-circulating video wrestling with and punching a man they said was wanted in a drug case.
Officials announced in a news release issued on the late afternoon of July 14 that they have engaged PMG investigations and George Gast, of Edinboro, to conduct a use of force review of the incident, which occurred on Baldwin Street in Meadville on the late afternoon of July 11.
The man police confronted, 33-year-old Nathan T. Koman, of Meadville, was wanted on drug charges from an incident in May and resisted arrest despite being hit with a Taser several times after an officer encountered him on Baldwin Street July 11, police charge in a criminal complaint filed against Koman on July 13.
In the video clip, one Meadville officer is seen wrestling Koman to the ground as another officer runs up and throws punches down on him.
Police charged Koman with misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and public drunkenness in the incident and he was jailed on $250,000 bond. He was jailed on $25,000 bond on drug charges in the case from May.
The officers involved in the incident remain on duty, Meadville City Manager Maryann Menanno said July 15.
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City officials said Gast, a 40-year law enforcement veteran and an FBI certified defensive tactics and use of force instructor, will conduct his review concurrently with an internal use of force investigation initiated by Meadville Police Chief Michael Stefanucci.
The results of both investigations will be shared with Crawford County District Attorney Paula DiGiacomo for additional review, city officials wrote in the news release.
Menanno said in the release that PMG Investigations and Gast were engaged to serve as an independent third party in evaluating the July 11 incident.
"In our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and public trust, we believe it is essential to ensure that any concerns surrounding the appropriate use of force are reviewed with the utmost integrity and objectivity," Menanno was quoted in the release.
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Koman remained in the Crawford County Correctional Facility July 15, and a lawyer for him was not listed on his two criminal docket sheets.
In the criminal complaint filed against Koman in the confrontation, police wrote that Koman resisted arrest while attempts were made to take him into custody in the drug case from May, and he continued to resist as police deployed a Taser on him three times. The officers also gave Koman knee strikes to the body and punches to the back, which they said did not seem to be effective as Koman continued to resist, according to information in the complaint's affidavit of probable cause.
The officers involved in the incident were not injured, Menanno said July 15. Koman was taken to the Meadville Medical Center following his arrest, but he did not have injuries that required medical attention, she said.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Meadville gets outside review of police action in filmed arrest