Dec 6, 2018 2 min read

A lawsuit has been filed against four Pennsylvania state troopers involved in the arrest of a man over a disturbance at a Dunbar Township American Legion in 2016.

Daylan M. McLee of Uniontown, through attorney Alec B. Wright, named Troopers Dale Brown, James Pierce, Adam Sikorski and Kip Yarosh as defendants.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday, stems from an incident on March 26, 2016 in which police responded to the American Legion for a report of a disturbance. Authorities alleged they saw McLee running from the scene, holding a handgun. Police said they told McLee to drop the gun, and when he turned toward them, Sikorski fired on his twice, missing both times.

McLee fled and was later charged; however, he was found not guilty of the charges in March 2017, Wright wrote.

The suit contended that surveillance footage of the incident showed that McLee was not involved in the altercation; he disarmed another person who fired a gun in the air and threw it away. Wright further contended that McLee was at the other end of the parking lot 50 feet away when police arrived, claiming Sikorski almost immediately discharged his service weapon twice at McLee.

“The charging officers reviewed all the video surveillance before preparing the affidavit of probable cause or assisting in its preparation, but nevertheless filed an affidavit of probable cause with material falsehoods and omissions,” Wright stated.

As he awaited trial in the case, Wright alleged, McLee spent almost one year in jail.

“As a direct and proximate result of the conduct described herein, Mr. McLee suffered significant economic harm including lost wages and income, as well as damage to his reputation, emotional distress, embarrassment and humiliation, and costs of defending against the criminal charges,” stated Wright.

McLee is seeking compensatory damages for emotional and mental harm, lost wages and income, the value of each day he was confined and legal costs.