May 10--A North Side business owner claims a Pittsburgh police commander threatened him, his cigar shop and the after-hours club upstairs when their romance soured.
But community leaders and neighbors of Executive Cigars said on Wednesday that Andrew Lee's allegations against Cmdr. RaShall Brackney and the protection-from-abuse order he obtained against her are just a smoke screen from a businessman fighting zoning violations and complaints.
"She said she was going to do everything in her power to destroy my business and destroy my life," said Lee, 45, of the West End. "She called and said, 'I'm going to shut you down,' and the next day, I was shut down."
Brackney, who supervises the North Side station, did not respond to requests for comment. She denies having a relationship with Lee or threatening him, said Warner Macklin III, who said he is representing Brackney "in communications and crisis management issues."
"She never told his attorney she'd go after him or shut his business down," Macklin said. "Anyone who knows her knows these allegations are just false. She looks forward to a full investigation."
Police spokeswoman Diane Richard said Brackney remains on duty. Officials referred the matter to the city's Office of Municipal Investigations, which looks into allegations of employee misconduct.
According to the PFA obtained on Tuesday, Brackney may have use of her service weapon only while on duty. A hearing on the protection order is scheduled for May 17.
Brackney has been a source of controversy in the department before.
In 2007, officers said she interfered in their investigation of a car crash in the Strip District, used her rank and influence to take control of the investigation, and told officers that she would take the driver, who was her friend, to the hospital for blood alcohol tests, but instead took her home.
A grand jury heard testimony from witnesses, but no charges were filed against Brackney, and she did not face departmental disciplinary action.
Lee wrote in seeking the protection order that Brackney told him in a "fit of rage" in February that she was "going to destroy me by any means." He also said she told attorney Todd Hollis that she would "do whatever it takes" to get Lee when she ran into Hollis at Savoy Bar in the Strip District. Hollis did not return a message seeking comment.
Lee said he and Brackney began dating more than a year ago, but the relationship was not serious and he broke things off when he met the woman who would become his fiancee. Lee called Brackney a "scorned woman" at a meeting last week in which neighbors gathered to voice their complaints about the after-hours club above Executive Cigars.
The city revoked the building's occupancy permit in February, but a judge allowed Lee to reopen under conditions including his agreement not to allow drinking there. Lee faces a zoning hearing today, and Brackney is among several people subpoenaed to testify, said Barbara Burns, a member of the East Allegheny Community Council.
"If anybody is a victim here, it is this community and the people who have basically had their lives turned upside down by his business," Burns said.
Lee declined to discuss neighborhood complaints on advice of his attorney, Linda Lee, who is his niece.
Police investigated a shooting that stemmed from an argument in the club in December. Councilwoman Darlene Harris said her office has received complaints of loud music, drug use and partying at Executive Cigars for about nine months. Officials issued nine citations to Lee in April for fire code and other violations.
"I think it's very convenient this is happening the day before the hearing." Harris said.
Nancy Muschar, 49, who lives next door to Executive Cigars, said she has called police weekly to complain of late-night parties at Lee's business for the past year.
"There's a lot of outraged neighbors," she said. "There's a lot of people that have been disturbed. I don't think (Brackney) is involved because she has some vendetta. This place has been a problem."
Copyright 2012 - The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
