Pittsburgh officials will seek an independent review of the Downtown crash and chase that ended Wednesday with officers beating the suspect, a spokesman said today.
Police said they used force on Devon Davis, 23, because he resisted their efforts to arrest him, but some witnesses said they heard the man scream, "I'm not doing anything," as officers punched him or hit him in the legs with a baton.
"The Office of Municipal Investigations is the city's lead investigative agency and is doing an independent review of this matter. As with all use of force cases where impropriety is alleged, OMI will seek an outside review by a third party expert as part of its investigation," Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, said in a statement.
He said the city has not yet decided which outside person or group will do the evaluation.
Davis was wanted on two bench warrants when someone spotted him Downtown on Wednesday and called 911. Police said he sped away from them in a Yukon Denali, collided with another car carrying a child, and then ran from officers.
Police wrote in court documents that one officer "performed a leg sweep" to take Davis to the ground and punched him in the side or stomach, another elbowed him in the head, and another struck his legs with a baton multiple times. Officers told Davis to "stop resisting" and he "continued to kick his legs and try to get up," they wrote in court documents.
Paramedics took Davis to UPMC Mercy, where he remained Thursday, for treatment of leg injuries. An update on his condition was not immediately available.
Police said Wednesday that Davis was injured in the car crash and at one point he "was hobbling." Multiple people who saw him in the moments after the crash said he did not appear to have any trouble running from officers.
Davis faces charges of fleeing, resisting arrest and other crimes.
First Published: February 27, 2015, 8:05 p.m.
