Lawsuit: Officers accused of assaulting same man twice in Allegheny Co. Jail

A man who said he was assaulted and shocked with a taser by two guards at the Allegheny County Jail without provocation is suing.

Daronte Brown, 21, of Monroeville filed the civil rights suit in U.S. District Court alleging excessive use of force, failure to intervene and other counts against Officer Robert Veith, Officer Miguel McKinley, Sgt. Christopher Radaci, as well as former Warden Orlando Harper, former interim Warden Shane Dady, former Chief Deputy Warden David Zetwo and former Deputy Warden Jason Beasom.

Allegheny County is also named as a defendant.

A spokesman for the jail said he could not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit recounts years of alleged problems in the jail — including the abuse of solitary confinement for mentally ill patients, inadequate training and supervision and a lack of adequate healthcare.

A settlement addressing many of those problems was reached last year, promising to bring “meaningful changes” to people incarcerated at the jail.

However, Brown’s lawsuit, filed by attorney Alec Wright and the Abolitionist Law Center, alleges two separate assaults prior to the settlement — one in 2023 and another in 2024.

Brown, who is diagnosed with anxiety disorder, was first assaulted in August 2023, the lawsuit said. It alleges that a nurse knocked Brown’s medication out of his hand to the ground, and when Brown objected, McKinley immediately punched him in the face.

The nurse called for backup, the lawsuit continued, and additional officers responded, lifting Brown off the ground, slamming his face into the wall and stomping on his head.

Although he was eventually taken to the medical housing unit, the lawsuit said, staff said he was fine and moved him to solitary confinement in the Restricted Housing Unit, where he was forced to sleep on a concrete slab without a mattress for more than a month.

The lawsuit alleges that the time in solitary worsened Brown’s anxiety, caused him nightmares and persistent pain.

Then, on Jan. 3, 2024, the complaint continues, Brown was assaulted by Veith and Radaci.

The officers were conducting routine window checks and singled Brown out to search his cell, the lawsuit said.

“They instructed Mr. Brown to go into his cell with CO Veith remarking that it was so Sgt. Radaci could ‘whoop your (butt).’ ”

The lawsuit alleges that Veith entered the cell and repeatedly punched Brown in the face. Radaci, instead of intervening to stop the assault, yelled at Brown to “get down,” and shocked him with a taser in his back.

“After Mr. Brown fell to the ground, and while he was unable to move from the tasing, CO Veith continued to punch Mr. Brown,” the lawsuit said. “Sgt. Radaci then ripped the prongs out of Mr. Brown’s back, causing immense bleeding.”

After the assault, the complaint said, Brown was placed in solitary confinement for two weeks. He alleges that jail officials continued to deny him adequate medical care and that he continues to suffer from anxiety and nightmares stemming from the tasing.

On March 11, 2024, Allegheny County police charged Veith with harassment, official oppression and simple assault.

Veith, who originally lost his job, pleaded guilty to a summary count of harassment seven months later and was ordered to pay a $300 fine.

He has returned to work at the jail.