Opinion ID: 3045882
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Events of the Night of the Fight

Text: At approximately 11:00 p.m. on November 11, 2001, thirty-nine-year-old X-ray technician Michael Kossler, his friend John Trelecki, and one other friend arrived at Donzi’s Bar in Pittsburgh’s Strip District and socialized, talked, walked around, and danced. While there, Kossler had a couple of beers but claims not to have consumed any alcohol prior to arriving at Donzi’s. 3 Steven Crisanti, a City of Pittsburgh police officer, was working an off-duty detail, or secondary employment position,1 that night at Donzi’s, where he had worked for about two years. With the exception of not wearing his official police baseball cap, Crisanti was dressed in his full police uniform. These secondary employment officers were paid in cash each night by Donzi’s parent corporation. Kossler and Trelecki left Donzi’s at approximately 2:00 a.m. Upon exiting the bar, the two men walked up a ramp toward a parking lot located next to Donzi’s entrance. They had not yet arrived in the parking lot when a fight broke out on the sidewalk at the top of the ramp. When the fight started, Crisanti was standing in the parking lot. 1 The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, in Order Number 29-1, defines secondary employment as “[a]ny employment that is conditioned on the actual or potential use of law enforcement powers by the police officer employee.” Order Number 29-1 also states that City of Pittsburgh police officers, “while engaged in secondary employment, will conduct themselves as though they were on-duty, and will be subject to all department rules, regulations, policies and procedures set forth by the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police.” Additionally, individual officers must obtain approval for secondary employment from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, and approval is contingent upon the officer’s “good standing” with the Bureau, as well as other qualifications. 4 Crisanti and Kossler provide different accounts of what occurred next. According to Crisanti, when he tried to go to break up the fight, Kossler grabbed him from behind and twisted him around. Crisanti responded by pushing Kossler away and ran toward the fight, but Donzi’s security had already broken it up before Crisanti reached it. According to Trelecki, he and Crisanti were friends, and he had tapped Crisanti on the back to let him know that he was going to help him in breaking up the fight. Kossler confirms Trelecki’s version of the events by stating that he was not the one who touched or grabbed Crisanti because he was standing near the valet stand several feet away waiting for his car. With respect to what happened after the fight ended, Crisanti states that he approached Kossler to ask why Kossler had grabbed him and to warn Kossler not to touch a police officer again. At that point, Kossler became irate, “came at” Crisanti, and bent his middle finger and forefinger completely back on Crisanti’s left hand. While Crisanti tried to pull his fingers free, he grabbed his pepper spray with his other hand and sprayed Kossler, at which point Kossler released Crisanti’s left hand. Kossler, in turn, states that Crisanti was yelling “in a loud, screaming, irate voice” that Kossler should not have touched him. Crisanti also pointed his finger in Kossler’s face and forced Kossler to back up. Afraid that he would be slapped or punched, Kossler told Crisanti that he had recently undergone surgery on his nose and asked Crisanti: “[P]lease, get your hand out of my face.” When Crisanti touched Kossler’s nose, Kossler “moved” or “pushed” Crisanti’s hand away in a non-violent 5 manner. Then Crisanti sprayed Kossler, and handcuffed and arrested him.