The city will pay one six-figure settlement involving a minor injured in a high-speed police chase, and will discuss another six-figure amount for an officer who filed a whistleblower lawsuit.
City Council on Tuesday approved a $392,000 payment to the family of a girl who was injured in 2015 when her half brother fled a traffic violation stop in Larimer and eventually crashed head-on with another vehicle. Five people were injured in the crash.
The girl, identified as “D.H.” in the lawsuit, was 12 at the time and suffered brain damage and other injuries that required significant rehabilitation, the family said in 2018.
The family, represented by Pittsburgh-based civil rights attorney Timothy O’Brien, alleged in the lawsuit that Pittsburgh police had engaged in a “widespread custom” of allowing high-speed chases stemming from traffic violations, many of them ending in crashes.
The bureau now has a review board that meets monthly to review all vehicle pursuits, according to a Jan. 2020 order.
Donovan Robinson, the girl’s half brother, pleaded guilty to dozens of charges and was sentenced to a year in jail.
Next week, City Council will discuss an expected $250,000 settlement with a Pittsburgh police officer who blew the whistle on the bureau’s technology contract with Plum-based B-Three Solutions.
Officer Souroth Chatterji alleged that former Public Safety Deputy Director Linda Barone retaliated against him for investigating her involvement with the contractor, denying him a promotion and discriminating against his ethnicity, according to court documents.
Ms. Barone is still an assistant chief with the city’s Bureau of Police.
According to the complaint, Officer Chatterji, who joined the department in 2012, was asked to evaluate its IT programs by former police Chief Cameron McLay and Cmdr. Eric Holmes in 2015.
During his review, the lawsuit alleged, Officer Chatterji discovered that the city had paid over $1 million in federal grant money to B-Three for updates and upgrades for its technology, but the improvements were never completed. Further, he found that other companies would have provided a better product — often with free updates and maintenance — for less cost.
Officer Chatterji found that the bureau “was reporting in its annual reports that it used federal grant money for projects that were completed by B-Three Solutions when those projects had in fact not been completed,” according to the complaint.
In the lawsuit, Officer Chatterji alleged that Assistant Chief Barone told him that “if he kept digging into B-Three Solutions, then it would lead to his ruin,” and that he would be the one who suffered if he continued.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleged that Officer Dawn Bowen and Sgt. Anthony Cortopassi intimidated Officer Chatterji at Assistant Chief Barone's instruction, and that they, along with Assistant Chief Barone's daughter, Alexis Barone, an employee of Pittsburgh's Department of Innovation and Performance, referred to him by racial slurs relative to his Indian descent.
The lawsuit further alleged Officer Chatterji was denied a promotion to sergeant, even though he scored the highest in all categories.
The city and Department of Public Safety declined to comment on either settlement. Neither comment on legal matters.
Mr. O’Brien, who also represented Officer Chatterji, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Ashley Murray: amurray@post-gazette.com
First Published: October 20, 2020, 10:11 p.m.