HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – The Pennsylvania State Police is investigating two of its own for possible brutality during an arrest in Harrisburg, ABC 27 News has learned.
Troopers Michael Trotta and Ryan Luckenbaugh are on restricted duty pending the outcome of the Internal Affairs investigation.
Chris Siennick says he was targeted by the troopers. He is a 25-year-old skateboarder who frequently cruises the downtown. He admits to occasionally falling. He also admits to occasional scrapes with the law.
But about 2:30 a.m. on May 16, Siennick hit a real bump in the road with troopers.
“They went by me in their car with the window down and said, ‘Get off the road, f****t,’ so I flipped them off,” Siennick said.
Siennick said the troopers circled the block, parked on Locust Street, got out of the car and came after him as he was standing on Second Street.
“I didn’t want to get hurt, so I figured I’d run away,” Siennick said as he replayed the incident Tuesday afternoon from the exact spot where it happened.
He didn’t escape.
Siennick says he was shot with a Taser but it didn’t latch on, hit with a baton, and tased again. He says his pants fell off and he fell in a clump, was dragged across the street, maced three times in the face and kicked in the head.
“There’s no reason for them to harass me in the first place, and to come after me and beat the crap out of me,” he said. “I feel like I was just a victim.”
Siennick said he spent three weeks in jail and that his bail was $250,000 for the brush with the troopers. He faced 14 charges. When the Dauphin County District Attorney’s office watched a video of the incident, all 14 charges against Siennick were withdrawn. The DA’s office recommended to state police that they investigate the two troopers.
A source called the video troubling. The same source, who saw the video, said Luckenbaugh was the more aggressive of the troopers in the video and that Trotta was not seen on camera landing a blow.
But Trotta was at the center of a police-involved shooting on June 1, 2014. He shot a West Hanover Township homeowner, David Ricker. Ricker returned fire. Both men were hit. A grand jury called Trotta’s shooting justified. Ricker claims Trotta was the aggressor. The case is still pending in the courts.
ABC 27 obtained charging documents that show Trotta was arrested by state police prior to joining the PSP. In May 2009, he worked as a security guard in a gated community and pulled over a woman for driving with a cracked windshield. The situation escalated and ended with the woman in handcuffs in the back of Trotta’s car. Trotta was initially charged with unlawful restraint, simple assault and harassment. All three charges were dismissed or withdrawn.
“Cops are human, state police are human, their command staff are human,” state Representative Mike Vereb (R-Montgomery) said. “There’s always going to be that one egg that rots the rest of the dozen.”
Vereb is a former policeman in the Philly suburbs who arrested a state trooper gone bad in the mid-90’s. He won’t speak about the specifics of this case, but trusts PSP to police itself.
“I still remain confident in the state police. I had that confidence back then and it’s still here today with the command structure that’s in place,” he said.
Siennick isn’t so sure. He’s watching the Internal Affairs investigation and contemplating a lawsuit.
“There’s bad cops,” Siennick said. “And the bad cops make all the good ones look terrible.”
Siennick should know. He’s had numerous run-ins with Midstate law enforcement in recent years, according to public documents.
ABC 27 has submitted a right to know request for the video of the May 16 incident.
