Allentown police officer faces trial in pistol-whipping

An Allentown police officer accused of pistol-whipping a man following a high-speed chase over the summer will face trial in Lehigh County Court.

Abviud Carvajal, 30, is charged with aggravated and simple assault in the July incident. At a preliminary hearing Tuesday afternoon, Magisterial District Judge Todd Heffelfinger found enough evidence for the case against Carvajal to proceed to trial.

Carvajal, who was placed on leave after the incident, is scheduled to be arraigned in January before Judge James T. Anthony. Carvajal’s attorney, Joshua Karoly, has said his client would plead not guilty to the charges.

According to the criminal complaint against Carvajal, he and other Allentown police officers were chasing a man, Thomas Kravitz Jr., about 9 p.m. July 23 in the 700 block of North 11th Street.

The chase ended near North 13th and West Pennsylvania streets in Whitehall Township, where Kravitz’s vehicle crashed into another occupied car.

Following the crash, Kravitz exited his car with his hands raised above his head as police officers approached him with their guns drawn. Carvajal approached Kravitz as he raised his hands, and hit him in the face with the muzzle of his gun, leaving a cut, court documents allege.

At Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan played several videos of the incident, including dashboard camera footage and Carvajal’s body camera footage.

In the body camera footage, Carvajal can be heard instructing Kravitz to put his hands above his head and drop to the ground, using explicit language, and warned that officers could shoot him if he fails to comply.

Carvajal hit Kravitz on the head with the muzzle of his gun several seconds after he exited his car, at which point Kravitz fell to the ground, according to the video.

Using timestamps, Karoly, Carvajal’s attorney, determined that two seconds transpired between Kravitz coming into Carvajal’s view, and Kravitz falling to the ground after Carvajal hit him with his gun.

Police officers attempted to handcuff Kravitz, who struggled against them for several seconds, causing another police officer to punch him until he is subdued, the video showed.

Holihan also showed screen captures of other surveillance footage from that evening where Kravitz’s face can be seen covered with blood.

At the hearing, Heffelfinger and an audience of Carvajal’s friends and family heard attorneys for both sides cross-examine Allentown police officer Carman Wega, who responded to the same incident that led to the alleged assault.

Wega testified that Kravitz was “non-complaint” with officers’ commands, including failing to pull his car over when officers signaled to him, failing to adhere to traffic signals — he blew through a stop sign before the crash — far exceeding the speed limit, and failing to drop to the ground when officers told him to.

Wega said that he did not see a weapon on Kravitz’ person, but that he and other responding officers, including Carvajal, knew that he might be armed because he had shown his wife his gun. Officers received information about Kravitz and the threats he made via radio signals.

In the video, while officers attempted to arrest Kravitz, Carvajal can also be heard asking the other officers to check on the other car involved in the crash. Four people, including two women and two children, were in the car and were injured. Wega said he heard children in the car crying.

Wega testified that he and other officers drew their guns on Kravitz because it was a quickly developing situation that they believed could put themselves and other people in danger. The pursuit ended in a residential neighborhood and Kravitz was arrested on the front lawn of a Whitehall home.

Kravitz was arrested and charged with prohibited possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, fleeing or attempting to elude officer, causing an accident involving injury while not licensed, making terroristic threats, tampering with evidence, resisting arrest, criminal mischief and DUI. He was sent to Lehigh County Jail on $75,000 bail.

During closing arguments, Holihan argued that the charges against Carvajal should stand because he showed “intent” of bodily harm when he hit Kravitz with the muzzle of his gun. He said that considerations of whether or not Carvajal’s use of force was “justified” are only relevant during a trial, not a preliminary hearing.

Karoly argued that previous case law in Pennsylvania shows that authorities failed to establish Carvajal’s “intent” to cause bodily harm. Officers take into account the “totality” of the situation when responding to a call, Karoly said, and that if Carvajal is convicted , every officer could fear that a reasonable use of force could lead to charges and arrest.

In a statement following the hearing, Karoly said he was “disappointed” that the case would proceed, although he noted that a preliminary hearing is the “lowest” legal standard a criminal case faces. He believes that Carvajal will be vindicated during trial, he said.

Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.