July 03--The city man who police said jumped over the side of the West Shore Bypass after an April 19 police chase has sued city and state police in federal court, claiming he didn't jump but fell over the side of the bridge when police shot him with a stun gun.
Ernest Martin, 36, of the 600 block of Mulberry Street survived the 40-foot fall to a parking lot below but was critically injured.
Martin claims in the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia that police covered up the events, lied to the media about him jumping and intimidated witnesses who didn't corroborate the police version of events.
He accused the police of using excessive force and cruel and unusual punishment. He also accused them of defamation of character and disregard for his constitutional rights as part of what he claims was the cover-up.
The suit seeks more than $150,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
The city declined comment on the suit. A state police spokesman could not be reached.
City police previously said they had spotted Martin driving a stolen car and tried to stop him at Fifth and Walnut streets but he drove off. Police said they chased him onto the eastbound West Shore Bypass where he crashed the car and it came to rest against the concrete median strip.
According to state police, Martin got out of the disabled car and was confronted by a city police officer. They said Martin jumped over the median, ran across both westbound lanes to the railing of the elevated highway, paused and jumped over the side.
City police acknowledged that a city officer shot Martin with a stun gun shortly before he went over the side.
Martin has an extensive criminal record and had just gotten out of jail in December after serving several years in prison for being in a stolen car and fleeing city police in May 2008, according to court records.
Police said the car in the April 19 chase was stolen from a 69-year-old woman as she helped a friend unload groceries from the trunk in the garage of The Abraham Lincoln hotel.
Contact Don Spatz: 610-371-5027 or [email protected].
Copyright 2012 - Reading Eagle, Pa.
