Pennsylvania Police Brutality Lawsuit Settled

The state of Pennsylvania has paid $50,000 to settle a lawsuit by a man who claimed two state police officers beat him at the Washington County barracks before taking him to the county jail, a newspaper reported on its website Friday evening.

State police declined comment on the settlement but released the document under a “Right to Know” request by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The state denies in the settlement that the officers did anything wrong.

The state agreed to settle the claim by Mark Trevena, 39, on June 6.

Trevena was sentenced in March 2010 to a prison sentence of 15 to 30 months for aggravated assault and terroristic threats. He was arrested on those charges Oct. 5, 2009, according to court records.

He filed a federal lawsuit in January claiming he had called 911 for an ambulance because of a migraine headache. The lawsuit claimed that Officers James Amitrone and Jay Hundertmark showed up at the same time as the ambulance, called him a “lowlife woman beater,” arrested him, took him to the barracks and assaulted him.