A violent fight inside a Pleasant Hills bar involving four off-duty Pittsburgh Bureau of Police officers is under review.
A 36-year-old man said he was hit in the head with a beer bottle during a brawl at the Pleasant Bar earlier this month. The alleged victim’s attorney, Casey White, said his client left the bar with a deep gash to his forehead that required nine stitches and may need plastic surgery.
White said his client was at the bar watching a basketball game when he saw a friend arguing with a group of men later identified as off-duty Pittsburgh police officers. White said his client stepped in to diffuse the situation.
“My client went over, took the individual, and separated him from the four or five other individuals, walked that gentleman out of the bar to quell the situation,” White said.
But when his client returned, White said tensions escalated.
“One of the individuals started swearing, threatening, and verbally accosting my client, threatening him, saying not only was he going to knock out the one individual that just left the bar, but he’s also going to knock out my client,” White said.
White acknowledges his client threw the first punch, but he said one of the officers then struck his client in the head with a beer bottle, opening what he describes as a 6-inch wound.
White said that as his client lay defenseless on the ground, he was kicked and punched. Surveillance video captured the entire incident.
“We decided it was in his best interest to go and tell his version of the events and give context because there is really no hiding from it,” White said.
A spokesperson for Pittsburgh Public Safety said all four officers were placed on administrative leave, investigated internally, cleared and have since returned to duty.
KDKA reached out to the Pleasant Hills Police Department, but the chief was not in on Friday. KDKA also stopped by the bar, but no manager was on duty, and no one there would comment.
Now, the decision on possible criminal charges rests with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office.
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